Aria
by ncistatelover
Summary: One day, Tony is out getting coffee when he meets this mysterious girl. Who is she? Where is she from? Why does she need his help? I hope you enjoy! Set around 17 years after the show's beginning!
1. Chapter 1: My Name Is Aria

**Aria**

The late November wind ruffled Tony DiNozzo's hair as he strolled out of his favourite coffee shop in D.C. Yet again, he was the person on his team who'd drawn the short straw and had been forced to leave his cosy desk in the warm Navy Yard, just to get his boss his morning caffeine. Normally, he wouldn't have minded that much, but today was different.

Today, it was bitter cold and as windy as a desert storm. Every shop in the city had decided that today was a great day to decorate for the fast approaching Christmas season, so everywhere he looked, he could see tinsel and glitter and ornaments, attracting happy families with smiling kids. This made him depressed, having no real family to spend the holiday with himself- his father had passed a couple of years ago, and the one woman who he wanted to start his own family with had been dead for many years.

Tony checked his watch and realised that he only had five minutes to get back to NCIS, thanks to his boss' curfew. Determined to get back quickly and avoid a slap to the head, he took a short cut through the park.

His boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was a fairly old agent who should of retired about 3 years ago but due to his stubbornness, had refused to for another 2. However, on the director's orders, he was working part time- generally only working Mondays to Fridays rather than every day. He was the strongest man that Tony knew, with an overwhelming desire to protect his team/ un-biological family and a body which ran on pure caffeine. Gibbs had been Tony's boss for so long that he knew secrets about him that no one else could even dream of.

There were, besides Tony, two other agents on his team. Timothy McGee was a brainbox, with a degree from MIT and a knack for thinking of solutions for the most confusing of problems. He and Tony had been co-workers for years now, and had been through a lot together. This didn't stop them from teasing and annoying each other though. Recently, Tim had welcomed his second child into the world, which Tony was the godfather of.

Eleanor Bishop hadn't been on Gibbs' team very long compared to the other agents, but she was still a great asset to them. She was smart, with training as an analyst from NSA. Being the only female agent on the team, she was very independent and strong, and was able to keep the boys in place when it was needed. She was married, but with no kids, as they would be 'too much to cope with in a job like this.'

Of course there were others as well. Abby Scuito, the eccentric forensic scientist had been there since the beginning. She was happily married to McGee after years of tension. Although she had two kids, she was as lively and young as ever and rarely had a frown on her face. Now Ducky had retired, Jimmy Palmer had taken over as chief medical examiner. The old doctor's methods had certainly proven useful to Jimmy, even if they did involve talking to the subjects of examination. He and his long time wife Breena now had 3 children and at least 2 dogs, all named after ancestors of Doctor Mallard, who was delighted by this.

As he walked, deep in thought, Tony returned to the real world as a young girl ran over and stood in front of him. She looked around 15, with bright hazel eyes which glowed as she looked at him and brown hair not dissimilar to his. Her smile, he thought, could light up the world on a starless night, and looked slightly familiar, although he couldn't figure out where from.

"Hello," she said, "are you Tony DiNozzo?"

Tony put on his best grin, despite the fact that he was confused on who she was and how she knew him. "Yes, and you are?"

The girl smiled, obviously relieved that she had got the right guy. "My name is Aria," she replied, "Aria Song. I need your help."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! This is one of the big stories I've been talking about! I'm sorry if this chapter is quite long, but I just thought I'd summarize everything that has happened in the past. The fic itself is set around 17 years after the start of the show! I hope you like this fic so far!**

 **Louise :)**


	2. Chapter 2: Who is Gabriella Song?

Having disregarded Gibbs' curfew completely, Tony had found himself back in his original destination- 'Cleo's Coffee Shop'. The welcoming aroma of steaming espresso filled the air as the buzz of chattering people seemed to brighten the whole place up. In total, there were 5 mugs of brown liquid on his table- Aria's, his own and the three stone cold, abandoned ones that he had bought for his team mates at least half an hour earlier. Aria was currently sitting opposite him, awkwardly deciding whether she should speak or not.

"Aria…" he began, breaking the silence, "that's an Italian name! It means…"

"…Air," she finished, "it's supposed to be a tribute to my father- he was Italian, apparently."

"Apparently?"

"I've never met him- I don't know who he is, where he lives, what he does, I don't even know his name! My mum says that he was one of the best men she'd ever met."

"Where's your mum?"

The moment he asked the question, Tony regretted it. Aria's face clouded over with a look of sadness, dread and worry. "Actually, she's the reason I'm here…"

"Go on…"

"Last night, I went out with some mates, staying out later than I probably should've done. When I finally got home, my house was trashed and my mum was missing. I searched everywhere, calling her name over and over again, but I couldn't find her. All I found was this note." Aria handed Tony a crumpled sheet of tea- stained paper with two words, hastily written in a blood- like red, on it- ' _Call T_.'

"T?" Tony asked, "T as in me?"

"Yes. My whole life, my mum has been extremely paranoid for no reason in my knowledge. She generally never lets me out of her sight, I'm not allowed any form of social media and when I arrive at school in the mornings, she makes me call her, just to let her know that I'm okay. She never talks about her past, or anyone from it, except you. You're the only person that she trusts. She's made me memorise your cell numbers- both work and personal in case of an emergency like this one. I know for a fact that she'd never ask me to call either of them unless she was in danger."

"So you're saying that your mum has been kidnapped?" Aria nodded. Tony looked at her weirdly. "How did you manage to find me then? You didn't call me…"

"Yes I did! I called your work cell but you didn't answer it- some lady called Ellie Bishop did. She told me where I could find you."

"Oh right… I must've left it at work!" Tony exclaimed. "I didn't…" He stopped, noticing Aria's raised eyebrows, yet another expression that he recognised, and turned back to the subject, and the fact that he didn't have a clue who this girl's mother was.

"Do you have a picture of your mum?" He asked, trying not to seem obvious.

Aria nodded and, after rummaging through her coat pocket, pulled out a shiny photograph which she handed to him. "This is the only picture that my mother has of her past."

Tony took one glance at the picture and immediately gasped. Impossible. It couldn't be real, but here was Aria, looking almost exactly like her. Now he could see the resemblance.

The photo had definitely been taken in the past- the at least 15 years ago past. Clearly taken at the annual NCIS Christmas bash, it showed Tony and his old partner, Kate Todd, both holding half- empty glasses of alcohol, their arms around each other's backs.

"Your mother," he whispered, "what does she call herself?"

Perplexed, Aria replied, "Gabriella Violet Song."

"Gabriella," Tony mumbled. He was just about to ask another question when his personal cell phone rang.

"DiNozzo?" He answered.

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs growled. "Where the hell are you?"

* * *

 **A/N: Before you get confused, Aria doesn't know that Tony works for NCIS, or that her mother (Kate) did either. She doesn't know anything about Kate's past as a secret service agent or that she was 'killed' by a terrorist.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Louise :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Ducky Talks

Tony sped into the NCIS squad room, carrying three mugs of (brand new) coffee, Aria hot on his heels, carrying her own practically empty one.

The team's area of the squad room was empty, apart from Ducky, who was apparently visiting and sat at Gibbs' desk.

"Alright Duck?" Tony grinned, looking around the empty area, "Where's everybody?"

"Hello Anthony!" Ducky greeted, "They're all up in MTAC- some fancy new case." He stopped and peered at Aria, "Who is this?"

"This is Aria, she's…" Tony paused- how was he supposed to explain that this girl was probably Kate's daughter? "…My friend's daughter."

Ducky nodded, still staring at her curiously.

"Umm… Aria?" Tony asked, slightly dismissively, "Why don't you go and get a snack or something from the break room?" He pressed a dollar bill into her palm and gestured in the direction of it.

"Ok," she replied, placing her coffee down on McGee's incredibly tidy desk before wondering off into the break room.

Once she was out of sight, Tony turned Ducky. "So, how's it going?"

For about 10 minutes, Tony and the retired doctor chatted, mostly about Ducky's 'peaceful but incredibly lonely' life, Christmas plans for this year (not much in Tony's case) and the unmercifully cold weather. Eventually, they reached the topic of work. Tony realised that if he was going to ask about Kate, now was the time to do so.

"So who was the hardest person that you ever had to autopsy- like emotionally and stuff?"

Ducky's once cheery face fell into a small, sad, frown. In any other instance, Tony would've felt bad, but right now, he needed answers, and he didn't care how he got them.

"Probably either Jennifer or Caitlin- two great women who went way before their time."

"Hmmm…" Tony paused before continuing with his mini interrogation. "So, that urban myth about Kate having a tattoo- was it true?" He already knew the answer, but he needed confirmation.

Ducky's frown clouded over with thought as he waited a moment before replying. "No, it wasn't, I don't know what everyone was so hyped about- there wasn't a single inked mark on her."

Tony gasped inwardly. He knew for a fact that Kate had a tattoo- a rose, tiny and delicate, right on her hipbone. He would never admit how he knew though. "Are you sure?" He questioned, "Were there signs of one being removed?"

"Definitely not," Ducky snapped, clearly upset about being asked about their fallen co-worker, "I am telling you now Anthony, there was nothing to get excited over- Caitlin clearly never had a tattoo!"

Satisfied with that answer, Tony sprinted over to his desk and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. Once they were on, he walked over to McGee's desk and picked up Aria's coffee cup. Careful not to spill the remaining liquid, he ran back over to Ducky, extremely hopeful now. Kate may've had a tattoo back in the days that they worked together, but she definitely didn't have a daughter! She may've been pregnant though, meaning that she couldn't have died before she had Aria (if the girl was telling the truth about Kate being her mother!).

"Tell Aria some tales of old cases or something when she gets back!" He said, running for the elevator, "I'm going to see Abby!"

* * *

 **A/N- Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Aria. I promise you things will get more interesting in the future! I have loads of ideas for new oneshots, so expect them soon on my page!**

 **Louise :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Who Is Kate Todd?

Tony marched through the steel door of Abby's lab purposefully, Aria's freezing coffee in his hand.

Abby Scuito herself was sat at her desk, busily typing away at her desktop. Surrounding her were photos of her family- her, Tim and their two boys Jack (after Gibbs' dad, Jackson) and Mike (after Gibbs' former boss, Mike Franks), mysterious substances in test tubes and pieces of evidence in tiny bags and jars. She turned around, her black pigtails swinging around with her, after hearing the ding of elevator and gave him a grin.

"How's it going Abs?"

"Hey Tony!" She exclaimed, welcoming him instantly, "What've you got for me?"

Tony placed the coffee cup on the table in front of her, removing his rubber gloves in the process. "Evidence from a personal case," he answered.

Ooh, the worst!" She replied. "What am I doing with it?"

"The saliva on the top of this cup- can you test the DNA and trace the donor's parents from it?"

Abby considered this request for a moment. "Who's the donor?"

"Um... Someone who donated unknowingly." Tony smirked.

Abby let out a tiny giggle, "Yeah, I should be able to do that, but I'll need a few hours."

"Yeah, that's fine." He paused awkwardly, "How're the kids?"

"They're good," she replied, "extremely excited for the holidays- Jack came home from school singing Christmas songs yesterday!"

Tony's kids were exactly like her in the fact that they got extremely excited over everything good in the world. Even Mike, who could only just crawl, spent most of his time sitting around and chuckling happily to himself. In his opinion, the world needed more people like the ones in her family.

"Awh, well who can blame him? It's almost Christmas time- the most wonderful time of the year!" He forced a smile, turning towards the door. "You call me when you get something Abs!"

"You bet!" She called after him as he exited the lab.

"Oh Abby!?" Tony shouted, poking his head back around the door, "The _Twilight_ case- where would I be able to find the evidence?"

Abby's face fell into a scowl, "Why don't you ask the FBI?" She hissed- Abby hated to be reminded of the case which involved her best friend's death, "They were the ones who took it all and kept us in the dark!"

Before she could bite his head off- Tony ran to the elevator and pressed the call button.

"Of course the FBI were involved," he muttered, "that would explain a lot…"

* * *

As Tony re-entered the bullpen, he flashed a small smile- Ducky had dozed off at Gibbs' desk, his glasses slightly askew. Aria was now sat at Ellie's desk, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Tony?" She asked.

He walked over and stood in front of her. As she looked up at him, her resemblance to her mother was incredibly strong, and it reminded him of back in the olden days, when Kate would look up at him with the exact same expression, deliberating their next move in a case. "Yes?"

"Your friend, Ducky, was showing me some old photos from his working days and someone I thought I'd seen before popped up."

Tony froze. He knew exactly where this was going, and he really wasn't prepared for it.

"Tony, what is NCIS, who was Special Agent Caitlin Todd and _why_ does she look _exactly_ like my mum in the picture that I gave you?"

* * *

 **A/N- Hey everybody! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Of course the FBI are involved in all of the confusion that is Kate Todd- we'll definitely seeing them at some point!**

 **Louise :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Tell Me

Tony sighed and ambled over to his desk. He flung open his top draw and began to rummage through it. After finding various stationary items- staplers, pens and sharpeners, crumpled old papers and random memories, he finally found what he was looking for. He withdrew a delicate gold frame with a single photo in it, along with a small pile of old team pictures. Then, he handed the frame to Aria.

"That's Kate Todd." He said as she examined it.

Aria stared at the photo. It had been taken in Paraguay when Tony and Kate were sent there together. Kate was smiling directly at the lens, her face glowing gold in the tropic sun and her chocolate brown hair streaked with natural, almost-blonde highlights. Aria was completely sure that this woman was her mother, but she was slightly confused about the whole thing.

"My mum isn't really called Gabriella Violet Song is she?"

Solemnly, Tony shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that she's not."

Aria sighed. She'd always felt that her mum wasn't being completely honest with her, but she'd never been totally sure what about. "What's her real story?" She paused, noticing Tony's bamboozled expression, "I mean, she's let tiny things slip before, but now I really don't know if they're true or not."

"I don't know much- Kate didn't say much to me either, but I'll tell you everything that I do." Tony said. "Your mum was born in Indiana. She had three older brothers, whose names I don't know, and a sister- Rachel, who does psych evaluations around here sometimes."

"I honestly don't know anything about her childhood, so I'm really useful there." He grinned sheepishly, "But I do know that she studied law for a year but hated it."

Aria smiled inwardly- trying to imagine her mum studying law was just too good.

"I'm not exactly sure when, but after she'd finished college; she joined The Secret Service…"

"THE SECRET SERVICE?!" Aria squealed. "As in 'we protect the president' Secret Service?"

"Oh yeah," Tony replied, "She was damn good at it too! That's how I met her- I was on Air Force One investigating a crime with my team and she was the agent from The Secret Service who helped us solve it. After the case was solved, she resigned and joined NCIS."

"What did she do at NCIS?"

Tony took a deep breath- he didn't generally like talking about his old partner and the fate that she'd reached. However, this girl was most definitely her daughter, and she deserved information.

"She was a Special Agent, just like me. We investigated crimes to do with the Navy and stuff. She was one of our best people." Tony sighed again, remembering all of the good (and not so good) times they had together.

"Why didn't she tell me about any of this?" Aria asked, clearly hurt.

"Probably because she wasn't allowed to… Or she was scared because it was so complicated…"

"Why would she be scared of that?"

Tony took a deep breath before continuing. "Aria, what I'm about to tell you may give you a slight shock."

Aria raised an eyebrow in a very Kate-like expression, "Um… Ok?"

"We were working a serious case, like, really serious. There was a terrorist, fixated on our team. He held your mother, our medical examiner and his assistant hostage, later on shooting the assistant. He shot our boss and then kidnapped your mum another few months later. Then a year later," Tony raked his fingers through his hair, "we- the team were on a warehouse roof, just after conquering the place from some bad, bad guys. None of us saw the guy… He shot her- your mum. Right there," Tony reached out and touched the middle of Aria's forehead.

Aria's hand flew to cover her mouth as she gasped.

"We, of course, thought she was dead," he continued with no hesitation, "I mean there was no way… Anyway, now you've arrived, and I'm so happy because it means that she's alive somewhere and hopefully I'll get to see her again!"

Aria grinned at Tony's extremely hopeful and happy expression- he clearly cared about her mum very much.

"Do you have any more photos?" She asked.

"Sure!" He said, handing over the small pile of team pictures that he'd taken out of his desk.

Suddenly, Tony's cell phone rang. He picked it up hastily.

"Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo!" Tony smirked.

"Tony?" Abby sniffed, "Your results are here."

"Abby," Tony asked, "are you Ok?"

"Just get down here, alright? Now." Then she hung up without another word.

"Got to go and see Abby a sec!" Tony stated, abruptly standing up and heading for the elevator, leaving Aria to browse old photos while 'babysitting' a snoozing Ducky.

* * *

"What you got Abs?"

Abby, once again was at her desk, facing her computer. She whirled around as she heard Tony walk in. As she turned, he saw that her puffy red eyes were gleaming with tears while dry ones glistened on her cheeks.

"Abby, wha…"

"…DiNozzo!" She interrupted, a note of anger in her voice as she pulled up a DNA chart on the plasma screen. "Do you know whose DNA this is?"

"I'm gonna take a really wild guess and say that it's Kate's." Tony replied, knowing instantly that this was what was upsetting her.

"And you would be right." Abby frowned suspiciously. "That makes my dead best friend the mother of this mysterious donor of yours." She pulled up another DNA chart before turning to him once again. "Ok then," she spat, "What about this one?"

Tony shook his head solemnly, unsure of what to expect- Abby looked livid and devastated simultaneously.

"Oh!" She smirked through her tears, "That's strange- it should look completely familiar to you, IT'S YOURS!"

Tony froze: he'd asked Abby to find Aria's parents, using her genes to trace their DNA back to them. If the tests had resulted in him and Kate, then…

"Tony, whose DNA did you have me test?" She whispered, "You're their father! Not just that- how is it possible that this person is KATE's child? You have five seconds to start explaining before I get Gibbs down here!"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I'm so glad that I've finally written and uploaded this chapter! It's definitely the longest one that I've ever written, but it is a pretty important one!**

 **I am thinking of bringing Ziva into the story later on! It's only a vague idea and I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it, but I definitely want to bring her back at some point!**

 **I hope you like this chapter!**

 **Louise :)**


	6. Chapter 6: A Word Please?

About an hour later, Tony trudged back into the bullpen, exhausted after having to tell Abby absolutely everything, from the very start all the way to the present. He knew that he had to though, Abby deserved to know- she was Kate's best friend after all. Under any other circumstance, she probably would've been Aria's godmother.

After the results had come through, he'd spent around 4 of the 5 seconds that he'd been allocated gaping at the plasma screen, is mouth opening and shutting in a rather goldfish- like fashion. HE WAS ARIA'S DAD! He, Anthony DiNozzo, had been a dad for 15 years and hadn't known anything until now. Not only that, he dad to the daughter of _Kate Todd!_

He was still trying to get his head around this, when he was approached by his boss, who was power walking towards him, looking incredibly pissed.

"DINOZZO!" Gibbs yelled, slapping the back of his Senior Field Agent's head (as he usually did when he was annoyed with him). "Where the hell have you been, and WHO is the teenager that is sat at your desk?"

Tony rubbed the back of his now physically sore head. Just because Gibbs was older now than he had been back when Kate and Ziva had been his partners, it didn't mean that he was any less grumpy. In fact, some would say he was even more so. "Number one: I've been down in the lab with Abby, before that, I was up here with Ducky and before that, I was out getting coffee." Gibbs glared at him. "Number two: I was just gonna introduce you to her."

Tony continued over to his desk, which was indeed occupied by Aria, and cleared his throat dramatically.

"Listen up team!" He cried, causing McGee to look suspiciously over the top of his monitor and Ellie to turn away from her paperwork. Gibbs raised his eyebrows expectantly. "This is Aria Song," he stated, gesturing down at her, "and don't question how, but she's Kate's daughter… Definitely."

McGee's jaw instantly dropped. He now wanted to ask how this was possible- Kate was dead. She had been for over a decade. It couldn't be true, Tony must've got it all wrong, but the way he had sounded so confident about it suggested otherwise. Instead of asking the forbidden question, he said, "Aria? Sounds Italian!"

"It is!" Tony smiled, "It means…"

"…Air," Aria piped up, a small smile playing with her expression. " _Io so._ "

Tony grinned brightly at her- he had no idea that she actually spoke the language! " _Parli Italiano?_ " He asked her.

" _Sì_!" She nodded.

"Kate, as in your old partner Kate?" Ellie frowned, slightly bamboozled.

"Yeah," Gibbs, who had been surprisingly quiet through all of this, butted in. "DiNozzo, a word please?" He stomped over to the elevator and stepped in; waiting for Tony before letting the doors close behind him. Then, he slammed down the emergency stop lever.

"DiNozzo."

"Yeah boss?"

"There's something that you're not telling us- I can tell."

"I'm not hiding anything."

Gibbs wasn't stupid. There was definitely something being hidden by Tony to do with Kate- the teenager who he had brought in was definitely her daughter, there was no denying it. However, there were certain features on the girl that didn't belong to her mum- she had sandy brown hair, unlike Kate's chocolate locks, with a defined jaw line and a grin that resembled that of Tony's very clearly. He was certain that Tony knew more than he was letting on!

After staring his agent down for a minute or two, Gibbs flicked the switch and the elevator was working. The doors sprang apart and they were back in the squad room once again. Ready to get back to work, the team leader stepped out of the now stationary elevator, but Tony stayed inside of it.

"Come on DiNozzo, we haven't got all day!"

"Sorry Gibbs!" He smirked, pressing the down arrow button. "I've got an appointment with the FBI" Look after Aria for me!" He called, just as the doors closed in front of him.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, sorry that I've been gone for so long! I haven't updated for a bit because I went on holiday for a week and then went back to school today so I've been a bit busy.**

 **I was going to put Tony's meeting with the FBI agent in this chapter but I decided not to because I thought that you have gone long enough without me updating and I didn't want to have to wait any longer to update!**

 **I must say, I have kind of copyed McGee in the fact that I have based the FBI agent that Tony meets on one of my closest friends in real life. You will find that as I continue writing more and more, I will do this a lot!**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and I'm sorry fpr being away for so long!**

 **Louise :)**


	7. Chapter 7: She's Dead?

Tony spotted his FBI friend the second that he stepped through the park gate- he really wasn't hard to spot.

Agent Matthew Thompson waved at him from his spot on the marble bench underneath the huge oak tree, wearing a scarlet tracksuit, turquoise sneakers and a crimson and navy tribal print hat with a red mohican sprouting out of the top. Tony chuckled- he knew that Matt had been undercover (thus overly bright tracksuit and sneakers), but the hat was definitely one of his own personal fashion choices.

"Alright Matt?" He asked, sitting down on the bench next to him.

"Yeah I'm good, you?" Matthew asked, grinning at Tony.

Tony had been friendly with the young agent's family for many years- his best mate from college was Matt's dad. He had helped Matthew get into law enforcement, meaning that now, if he needed information from the FBI, Matt was the one he asked for it.

"Just a bit overwhelmed I suppose."

"How so?"

"Well let me see… There is the fact that I just found out that I'm the father of a 15 year old girl, like…" Tony checked his watch "… An hour ago!"

Matthew grinned widely. "The girl you told me about? Yeah that would overwhelm me too!"

Tony nodded. "Kate's daughter."

The young agent's face fell as he prepared for the more business part of their encounter. "Yeah, I guessed by your call that this wasn't just a social catch up."

"I want answers Matt!"

"Yeah I know Tony- I would if I were you!" Matt breathed out slowly before continuing. "My clearance wasn't high enough to access some classified details, but I managed to get most of the intel from the Twilight case."

"And?" The Senior Field Agent asked.

"I'm not sure how, but one of our best teams managed to get Agent Todd away from the warehouse, replacing her with one of their lookalike agents. They didn't know that the terrorist would shoot her- we knew that he was planning something, but not the specific details. Their agent died instead of her.

"The bureau let your ME do the autopsy, just so that he'd confirm her death, but they wouldn't let your Forensic Specialist handle the evidence- they knew that she was smart and that she'd find out everything.

"Then they sent her into witness protection. She wasn't allowed to communicate with anybody from the FBI, or her old team, or anyone in law enforcement for that matter and she refused to work, just in case somebody tracked her through her job. She wouldn't go out and socialise at all for as long as we had her…"

"What do you mean- _as long as you had her_?" Tony enquired, his voice rising sharply.

Matthew ran his hands through his scarlet mohican. "She vanished. Completely vanished. Around 5 weeks after being put into witness protection, she just disappeared, leaving absolutely no trace. I personally think, from reading the files, that she fled from hiding under the radar because she had had enough. I think that she got fed up of living her life under the protection us and left."

"Kate was never one to sit around and do nothing." Tony stated, the November breeze creeping under the collar of his coat, making him shiver. "Did anyone know that she was pregnant?"

"I don't think so. I think that another reason for her leaving was because she didn't want the bureau to find that out. Either that or she just didn't want her child to be born under witness protection." The young agent paused. "Her daughter came to see you, right?"

"Yeah," Tony sighed. "My daughter." He pictured Aria, grinning up at him as she spoke Italian. She looked almost exactly like her mother.

"Does she know that yet?"

"No, I haven't told her."

"Hm…" For a minute the agents just sat in silence, watching families with their own children stroll past, along with the occasional dog walker or work commuter. "Strange isn't it," Matt said, "how one minute everything is so normal and the next, your entire world has been flipped upside down."

"You don't say…"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I'm really sorry that I haven't uploaded for a week or so- school has just started for me, and GCSE dance work is kind of my priority at the moment so I put off writing this chapter a bit!**

 **I have made a writing schedule for myself and it is as follows:**

 _ **Every Wednesday there will be a new chapter of ARIA,**_

 ** _The occasional Saturday will deliver a new ONESHOT!_**

 **I find that making a specific dedline for my writing helps encourage me to actually write, so I thought I'd make one! I hope that this way, I'll easily be able to keep up with my fics!**

 **Oh! I have also decided that ZIVA will definitely be making an appearance in this fic, so thank you to those who said that I should include her somehow!**

 **Louise :)**


	8. Chapter 8: You're Going Home

"TONYYYYYY!" Abby cried as he entered the bullpen once again. She ran over and threw her arms around him so tightly that he could barely breathe.

"Abby… Can't… Breathe…" He spluttered.

"Oh right, sorry!" She let go of him cheerfully and sat down at Gibbs' desk, making herself comfortable. As she did so, Tony noticed another guy, with raven hair and amber eyes, wearing the same blue uniform that Jimmy wore, and Ducky used to wear, leaning on the front of the desk casually.

"Um… Who are you?" He asked the clearly new recruit.

"Oh!" Abby exclaimed, "This is Taylor- Jimmy's new assistant, it's his first day!"

Tony stared Taylor up and down- there was something suspicious about him- something that he didn't like one bit.

"I've heard a lot about you: DiNozzo, right?" Taylor grinned, holding out a hand for him to shake, which he shook gingerly. "Abby hasn't stopped talking about you since I got here- I'm really looking forward to working with you!" His expression was so warm and friendly that Tony waved his suspicions away almost instantly. What could possibly be wrong with him anyway?

"Yeah, same back to you mate," he finally replied, flashing his signature DiNozzo smile before heading over to his own desk where Aria was sat, sketching quietly.

When he peered over her shoulder to see her sketch pad, a smile washed across his face. Aria had drawn her mother, capturing her bright eyes and stunning smirk perfectly, as if she had taken a greyscale photo and stuck it in her book. She had definitely inherited Kate's drawing talent! Feeling a presence behind her, Aria turned around to look up at him, smiling when she saw him staring at her sketch.

"Drawing calms me," she stated.

"Need calming much?"

She sighed. "I miss my home- I wish that I could go back." Suddenly she brightened up, "Maybe you can take me- just for a visit! Maybe there'll be something there that'll lead you to my mum!"

After considering this statement, Tony realised that this was true. Plus, he wasn't going to find Kate by sitting around at work doing nothing! He looked down at his daughter stating directly into the hazel eyes that were exactly like her mother's.

"OK- tell me where we're going!"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I know that this chapter is extremely short, but the next one will be more exciting- I promise!**

 **In case any of you were wondering, my friend who I based FBI Agent Matthew Thompson (previous chapter) on, does actually own and wear the very same hat that I described in that chapter (it's really embarrassing but hillarious at the same time)!**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **Louise :)**


	9. Chapter 9: Accident

Aria turned her key in the lock and then they were in.

She had lived her whole 15 years within the walls of this house- the only home she had ever known. She had no relatives other than her mum and only a couple of friends at school, so she'd never spent time away from home.

"Nice place!" Tony complimented. Unlike his rundown apartment, Kate and Aria lived in a house. A proper house- with two floors, a back garden and a real entrance rather than a long hallway with twenty other doors hiding twenty other nosy neighbours. It was slightly messy though- there were pieces of a broken mug scattered all over the rug amongst other smashed stuff. The furniture had been moved and even flipped in places. There was a small amount of blood splattered on the mahogany floor, which made his heart flip- maybe it was Kate's…

Aria chuckled- the place was a mess: her mum had obviously gone down with a fight. "Well I did tell the dog to keep the place tidy but she must've forgotten!" She joked.

Tony grinned- it was obvious that he and his daughter had an extremely similar sense of humour. "Dogs aren't very good at housekeeping- that's why I don't have one!" Aria flashed a grin at him before stepping into the lounge of the house.

Immediately, they were greeted by a loud barking as a small white and chestnut animal rounded a corner, jumping up at Aria excitedly. She laughed joyfully as the dog licked her hands and arms.

"Hello girl!" She cooed, looking up at Tony joyfully. "This is…"

"…Toni!" He backed away slowly- Kate's dog had never been a fan of him, or him of it. "We've met before." Toni growled at him, baring her teeth ferociously.

After Aria had shut Toni in the kitchen, she wiped her brow and turned back to the special agent. "Right," She said. "What are we looking for?"

Tony thought about this for a second before answering. "Your mum's cell phone, something that contains all of her memories from her past and whatever you want to take back to DC with you- we won't be coming back here for a while."

Aria nodded and headed down a corridor to her bedroom. As she stepped inside the turquoise painted room, she grabbed her tribal print bag off the inside of her door and began packing right away. She swiftly picked up a picture of her and her mum from her dresser, a ragged rabbit toy that she'd been given when she was born and her purse in which she kept all of her savings. Then she opened up her closet, putting a few clothing essentials such as underwear, a clean sweater and pyjamas into her backpack.

It was when she closed the closet door that she noticed something hiding underneath it, disguised by the dusty grey carpet.

Aria's hands trembled slightly as she picked Kate's cell out of the dust and blew on the screen slightly to clean it off. She pressed the on button to see if it would work and was thrilled when she saw it light up with a photo booth picture of them from a previous summer.

After grabbing her bag and the phone, she ran back down the hallway to the lounge, where she spotted Tony mooching around by the fireplace, a large red book tucked under his left arm. She watched curiously as he examined the photos that stood framed on the mantelpiece before snatching one and tucking it into his back pocket. Being as observant as she was, she knew that it was the one taken of her and Kate at her schools summer fete. It was one of her favourite pictures, so she would've normally snapped at anyone who touched it, but the way he was looking at it made her think otherwise.

Suddenly, Tony whirled around to see her standing in the doorway and flashed a grin. "I found something!" he said.

"Me too," she smiled back, holding Kate's phone up in the air. Tony's face lit up as he saw it.

"Good job!" He grinned, taking it from her and sticking it in his other pocket.

" _Grazie_!" She replied, "What've you got there?"

"I found this photo album," he showed it to her happily, "inside that old radio over there." He gestured to a vintage radio over in the corner of the room. It made Tony smile- when he was a kid, he'd used to hide stuff inside his radio. "It has everything in it, from early childhood photos to NCIS days, to the date of your birth, to your most recent day out!" He opened the album to a random page.

Aria stared. The album had opened to a picture of her as a toddler, grinning up at the camera, multicoloured paint smeared all over her face. She was slightly bamboozled when she saw what her mum had written below the photo- _Clearly a DiNozzo_ , and looked up at Tony for answers. Noticing her expression, he slammed the book shut.

"Shall we get going then?" He asked, looking slightly flustered.

Aria sighed, tears welling up in her eyes. "Yeah I suppose," she choked, "it's just really sad not knowing when I'll be back- this place is my home, you know?"

It broke Tony's heart to see his newly discovered daughter cry, so he wrapped his arms around her tightly to comfort her. Aria cried quietly into his shoulder. Normally, she didn't cry in front of anyone except her mum, but there was something about Tony that made her feel ok about letting her walls fall down.

Their embracing was quickly interrupted by the landline phone ringing extremely loudly, its ringtone echoing off the walls.

"Let me answer it."Tony stated, picking the phone up off its station and holding it up to his ear.

" _Hello?_ "

" _Hello, Very Special Agent DiNozzo."_ A clearly computer generated voice answered.

Tony's eyes widened. It was the kidnapper.

" _I've heard a lot about you,"_ the voice continued.

" _Oh, who from?"_

The voice chuckled. _"So many people, but especially Caitlin here."_

Tony froze. _"Kate?"_

" _Yes. She's not the most willing of guests, I'm afraid I had to restrain her. Taking the girl would've been so much easier."_

" _What do you want with her?"_

" _Well, that is a reason that goes deep into both my past and yours."_

Tony's face darkened with anger and frustration. _"Let me talk to her."_

" _I'm extremely sorry Mr DiNozzo, no can do."_

" _It wasn't a request."_ He snarled.

The voice cackled. _"Persistence, I like that. Caitlin is very persistent too. Very well DiNozzo, 1 minute- no more, no less."_

There was a crackle in the line as the phone was moved, then… _"Tony?"_

" _KATE oh my god, are you ok?"_

" _Yeah I'm fine DiNozzo- just got kidnapped, I have no idea where my daughter is and I'm in this tiny dark room with a psychopath, but other than that, I'm just brilliant!"_

Despite the situation, Tony laughed. _"You haven't changed a bit, you know that?"_

" _Doesn't really sound like you have either."_

" _Why didn't you tell me that I had a daughter Kate?"_ He lowered his voice so that Aria wouldn't be able to hear him.

" _I didn't know I was pregnant until about a week after I'd been put into witness protection. By then it was too late. I'm sorry Tony."_ She whispered, sounding as if she was about to break down.

Tony sighed, knowing that the minute would surely be up in any moment. _"Katie, I…"_

" _OK- that's enough!"_ There was a lot of struggling down the other end of the line before the voice returned, loud and terrifying once again. _"You'll see Caitlin again soon, I promise you that."_

" _Yeah, just tell me that it won't be in the morgue."_ Tony snapped, his voice still lowered.

The voice laughed. _"You may want to check the oven before you leave DiNozzo- something has been cooking for far too long."_

" _What?"_

" _Speak soon Anthony!"_ The voice greeted merrily before hanging up.

"Tony?" Aria immediately asked.

"The oven…" He muttered, striding off into the kitchen, Aria hot on his heels.

The instant that he opened the door, he knew that something was wrong: the room was baking hot, and Toni was barking ferociously in a guard-dog-like fashion. He grabbed the oven door and wrenched it open viciously, clouds of black smoke and desert-like heat flooding into his face. What he saw made him feel sick to his stomach.

There was a large brown paper box, surrounded by wires with a temperature gage poking out of the top. The number on the gage increased rapidly, the device beeping wildly. Suddenly it began flashing, the beeping becoming louder like a siren.

"GET OUT!" Tony yelled, dashing out of the kitchen and grabbing the photo album and Aria's hand. They were almost at the door when…

BOOM.

The bomb exploded, firing debris everywhere, the scorching heat unbearable. The last thing Aria saw was Tony launching himself on top of her, attempting to shelter her from the blast before a flying piece of shrapnel landed on top of them and plunged them head first into complete darkness.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey people! Here is the long overdue chapter 9 of Aria, and it's drama-filled! I really hope that you liked this chapter; it's a lot longer than usual (for me), and contains quite a lot of things that will appear important later on!**

 **Thanks for sticking around (sorry for the mini hiatus!), hope you'll continue reading!**

 **Louise :)**


	10. Chapter 10: On Sunday

_Tony was awoken by the bright spring sunshine pouring in through the crack in the curtains. He sighed, twisting his body so that he could see a phone lying on the bedstead to check the time._

 _11:29, Sunday 22_ _nd_ _May 2005._

 _The room looked familiar, as if from a distant memory, but it, like that supposed memory seemed distant and far away, almost as if it wasn't real. The bed sheets that covered his bare body felt familiar too, but extremely light, as if they were made of almost nothing. Last but not least, there was the soft weight in his arms, the weight of a woman. The woman smelt of a combination of sweetness, as if heaven and been turned into a scent, and that scent smelt familiar to him. The whole thing was very dream like._

" _Tony?"_

 _He jumped, turning over rapidly to meet eyes with Kate. Her eyes were glittering with tears, her bare shoulder poking out from underneath the cover. He remembered this, waking up after a passionate night, her warm weight in his arms, her hair tickling his neck. However, the memory appeared to be wrong- he was sure that he'd woken up before her._

" _Yes Katie?"_

" _Look after Aria for me, for us, while I'm away?"_

 _Tony gently brushed her hair out of her eyes and placed his fingertips on her cheek. "I'll go to the ends of the earth for her, just like I will for you."_

 _Kate's face split into a tearful smile, one that he hadn't seen for over a decade, and leaned in as if to kiss him, but went away from his mouth and towards his ear instead._

" _Wake up, Anthony DiNozzo." She whispered softly._

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! Sorry (once again) for the mini hiatus. My school has just broken up for half term, so I'll be posting more next week, possibly every day!**

 **If you have read some of my other fics, than you will notice that this is a reference to another fic- On Sunday. Someone suggested that I should link the two stories together, so I did so with this chapter.**

 **Come back tomorrow for another chapter!**

 **Louise :)**


	11. Chapter 11: In Hospital

Tony's eyelids shot open as his dream abruptly came to an end. He glanced at the empty spot next to him in the hospital bed where Kate had been in the dream. He could still feel her hot breath in his ear; still hear her words echoing around in his head- _wake up_.

"Tony!" Abby squealed, materialising out of apparently nowhere and throwing her arms around him tightly.

"Abby…" He wheezed. "…Can't breathe!"

"Oh, sorry!" She exclaimed, quickly retreating away from him. As she pulled away, he noticed that her face was flushed and her eyes were wide and panicked, just as they normally were when one of them got injured.

"It's alright," he breathed, taking in his hospital room surroundings. "How did I get here? How did _you_ get here?"

Abby began explaining about how when he and Aria still hadn't arrived back at NCIS late into the evening, she'd become worried and put a trace on his cell phone to track his location. She'd driven all the way to Kate's house to find it in ruins with them lying in a heap of rubble just inches from where the front door used to be.

"I didn't bother waiting for an ambulance, I drove you both straight here."

"How much does Gibbs know?"

She sighed. "He knows that you got in an accident with the girl at her house, but no specific details of where or how or what. He definitely has his suspicions though- he was down in the lab earlier bombarding me with questions and he's been scooting around your desk all day. You're gonna have to tell him at some point…"

Tony let out an exasperated breath. "Where is my daughter?" He asked, starting to get up out of his hospital bed. There were at least 6 machines surrounding him, but he wasn't attached to any of them, so he was really that concerned about getting up and walking around.

"She's in another ward. I would take you but you're not allowed…" Abby was cut off as he interrupted her by snapping at her.

"Look Abs! I almost died back there in that house, and knowing the guy that just tried to kill me, he'll probably try again. I'm not letting him do that until I've told Aria that I'm her dad!" Realising how mean this must've sounded to Abby, he clamped his hand over his mouth and glanced over at her. Instead of being upset, Abby appeared amused at this statement.

"Let's go then." She smirked.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I'm gonna try and post a chapter of a fic every day this week. I'm debating on whether to write a dream from Aria's side of the story as well (for the next chapter!), so please leave thoughts on this idea down below!**

 **Louise :)**


	12. Chapter 12: Aria's Family?

_Aria ran through the front door of her house, squealing happily as she waved a huge gold trophy in her hand. It was only a few hours ago that she'd been crowned national champion for under 16s ice skating._

" _YOU WON!" Her mother cried, jumping up and down excitedly and hugging her daughter._

 _Aria giggled and hugged her mum tightly as they danced around the lounge happily._

" _I'm so proud of you Ari!" Kate laughed._

 _Ari. Her mum never called her Ari. There never seemed to be a particular reason why, Kate had just always seemed to shrink away from the name when she suggested it as a suitable nickname. Right at the back of her mind, she knew that something was unusual- this whole situation; winning a competition, her mum, sister and dad being there cheering her on, was kind of fuzzy- dreamlike._

 _She placed the trophy on the table and pulled away from Kate, striding over to the fireplace, which, as always, was adorned with photo frames. However, none of them seemed familiar to her. The photo of herself and her mum at her summer fete was still on the mantelpiece, but next to it was a new photo, one that made her mouth fall open in shock._

 _It was a wedding picture. She was in it, right at the bottom as a gleeful little 5 year old clinging onto her mother's hand. Her mum was wearing a stunning strapless white dress encrusted with jems around the waist, accompanied with white lace pumps and a veil which was pushed out of her face with a silver tiara. Her chocolate coloured hair was curled and rested on her shoulders in a half updo. She looked like she had jumped out of a fairytale. Kate had her arm linked with a guy's. A guy with sandy hair. A guy with a dashing grin. A guy who looked like…_

" _Thanks for leaving me and Elena with the bags girls!" Tony shouted sarcastically as he stumbled into the room, about 3 bags under one arm and a stuffed rabbit toy under the other. An over excited 7 year old hurtled into the room at top speed._

" _Ari won! Ari won!" Elena giggled._

 _That's when it hit her. Elena- the sister that she would never actually have in real life. Tony- the dad that she'd been missing her whole life. She was dreaming, dreaming of a perfect life where her family was all together and happy. Aria walked over to her sister and, despite the fact that she was 7 and quite heavy, scooped her up, taking her in. While she herself looked almost exactly like her mum, Elena looked like her dad. She had his sandy hair, with cheeky green eyes. She had her mum's facial structure and dimples when she smiled with a DiNozzo grin._

" _My little sister…" She whispered._

 _Elena leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. Aria could feel herself welling up. "I love you Ari, please wake up!"_

* * *

 **A/N: Hey people! I hoped you liked Aria's dream! I have decided to put A Family Camping Trip on hiatus while I catch up with writing- sorry! I'm gonna try and upload a chapter of this on Monday's until I write it all and can upload frequently!**

 **See you on Wednesday for a new chapter!**

 **Louise :)**


	13. Chapter 13: You're My Dad

Aria snapped out of her dream immediately as the door to her room was opened. Slowly, she took in her surroundings- a bland hospital room filled with machinery of all kinds. Feeling a dull pain, she looked down and saw (to her dismay) that her left arm was in a sling and covered with bandages. She watched as Tony entered the room hastily, followed by a woman dressed all in black with spiky boots and black pigtails, before shutting the door swiftly.

"Sorry!" Tony exclaimed. "Did we wake you up?"

 _I love you Ari, please wake up!_ Aria thought of Elena then, the sister that she'd never have. "No," she whispered, "you're alright."

Tony nodded and sat down on the edge of her bed, taking her right hand gently and squeezing it. "I heard that you broke your wrist, are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine, just a bit dazed I guess." She paused. "Did our findings survive?"

He held up the photo album and placed it on her lap. "Abby here has already taken the phone so that she can start working on it."

"It's safe with me, promise!" Abby assured with a smile. Aria returned that smile- she had a feeling that she would grow to like the goth a lot.

"I want you to see these." Tony said suddenly, opening the crimson velvet cover of the photo album and flicking through the rustic cream pages that were full with photos from another time. Although he couldn't feel them doing so, his hands were trembling vigorously with nerves.

Eventually, he came across the page that he was after. It was a photo of him and Kate, dated 21st May 2005. It had been taken in some club that he didn't remember the name of, with them clutching glasses filled with drinks that he didn't remember drinking. Kate was wearing a tight pair of black skinny jeans and a red top that came to just above her belly button. He was wearing a blue button up t-shirt and black trousers. She had one arm resting on his shoulder, her other positioned with her hand on her hip. They were both grinning at the camera lens, extremely carefree and happy. The picture was captioned ' _Eventful night_ ' and Tony knew exactly why. When Aria looked up from it, he was staring at her intently, and that's when she knew exactly what he was trying to show her. Thanks to her dream, she now knew what he'd been keeping from her this whole time.

As he flicked through more and more pages, all she could see was the years that he'd missed. The years through which she would go on outings to the woods or park in her pram, the years through which she spun and skated on ice, the years through which a normal girl's dad would've been there supporting her, while he had been stuck in some government office building, knowing nothing of her existence.

He reached the page which he had accidently shown her earlier that day, the one with the caption that read ' _Clearly a DiNozzo_ ', and that's when she knew that the truth was about to come out. "Aria." He began, "I'm…"

"You're my dad!" She blurted out, unable to keep what was obvious now in any longer.

At this, Anthony DiNozzo was silent, just sitting still and nodding.

Aria could see Tony trying to keep himself together, and it was breaking her heart. She could feel tears of her own gathering in her eyes. They were tears of happiness for finally knowing her father's identity, but also tears of dispair as she remembered the bright eyes of the 7 year old sister she could've had. Without hesitating for a second, she reached over and hugged her dad close. "Good." She whispered.

That set Tony off completely. Soon, they were both crying, holding onto each other as if they would never let go. All he could think about was how she'd not rejected him as a father.

Suddenly, there was a click of a camera taking a picture and the pair sprung apart quickly. Abby shifted from her left foot to her right awkwardly. It was pretty obvious that they'd forgotten that she was there, but she didn't mind a bit. She loved a good family reunion.

"Um… Hi." She stuttered. "My name is Abby, Tony's already told you that," she giggled, "and your mum, well, she was my best friend. So um… If you ever want to know anything, you can talk to me." She gave a small wink.

"Thanks!" Aria smiled. "Speaking of my mum…"

"We'll find her," Tony piped up, his expression brightening instantly. "We'll find her together."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Aria and Tony's final revelation. I have a new short fic coming on Sunday which I think you'll all enjoy- it's called Seasons and it's extremely fluffy.**

 **See you on Sunday!**

 **Louise :)**


	14. Chapter 14: I Wasn't Expecting That!

Aria and Tony were both kept at the hospital overnight, just to ensure that they were alright, and then released at 8:00 the following morning. Less than an hour later, they were back at the Navy Yard, inside of the NCIS, heading down to the lab to visit Abby for information.

"Hey Abby," Tony greeted as the pair entered the lab to find the forensic scientist and her husband, "McProbie!" Crowded around the computer.

"Hi DiNozzo!" McGee replied. He was used to Tony's random (and sometimes uncalled for) nicknames by now, and didn't generally seem to mind being called by them anymore.

Abby's eyes lit up as she saw the duo enter her lab. She ran over to Aria and hugged her tightly, a huge smile plastered on her face. "We're gonna find your mum, ok?"

Aria nodded. "I know," she whispered, hugging the scientist back. She already understood why her mum had liked her- it appeared that she would stop at nothing to help the people that she cared about. Aria didn't object as Abby grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the computer.

"Have you met Tim?" She asked.

"Briefly," she smiled, reaching out her hand and shaking his happily. "You knew my mum too?"

McGee grinned. "Yeah, we were teammates. She was a great woman, an even better agent!"

"That she was," Tony interrupted, raising an eyebrow at McGee, "what ya got, McAbby?"

"Well," Abby began, "we were digging around on Kate's phone and we found something." She pulled a picture up on the plasma screen.

"She was being traced." Tony muttered, staring at the picture.

"By an encrypted number," Tim continued, "which we should've cracked…" there was a satisfying ding as the monitor lit up with a result, "… now!"

A mobile number popped up on the screen, and Tim was immediately on the keyboard, typing rapidly as he traced the number's owner and location. "Nearly there," he murmured, just as a name, identity photo and address popped up.

Tim cursed under his breath as he recognised the person instantly.

"I wasn't expecting that!" Abby exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock.

"Go and kick his ass." McGee stated.

Tony stormed out of the lab, his hand already on the holster of his sig, shouting a rushed "good job guys!" on his way out.

As soon as he was out of sight, Aria turned to the pair, slightly confused.

"Isn't that the new guy I saw yesterday?" She questioned. "Taylor, you said he was the new medical assistant?"

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I hope you liked this chapter of Aria. Yes, it's short, but the next chapter should be longer and have more drama!**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **Louise :)**


	15. Chapter 15: Interrogation: Round 1

"Taylor Whitehead." Leroy Jethro Gibbs said, stalking around the interrogation table, an NCIS employee file in his hand.

Taylor chuckled and leaned back in the cold metal seat, putting his boots up on the table. "Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs: the only agent on your team that I haven't met." He held his hand out for Gibbs to shake. When the boss didn't shake it, he pulled it away with a smirk. There was something awful about that smirk- it was antagonising, and reminded him of that of an enemy from way back. An enemy that had cost him a teammate and friend- the teammate and friend that the whole team was now searching for desperately. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Can't say the same about you." He countered; knowing already that he'd get nothing out of this interrogation- Taylor was too arrogant, too ignorant, too much like Ari. He already wasn't sure whether the assistant would make it out without a broken nose. "In fact, for someone who's achieved so much in their lifetime, you seem too receive little to no attention!"

"I'm known in the places where I'm needed to be."

"Some kind of secret club?"

"Do you have any real questions for me Gibbs, or did you just call me for an introduction of my background?"

"Actually, both, but I'll start with the 'real questions'." He sat down opposite the assistant, observing him closely. "What do you know about Gabriella Song?"

Although Taylor laughed off the question, Gibbs noticed his eyes darken, the amber changing to a burnt umber sort of colour. "Who? I'm sorry, that name- I've never heard it before."

"Ok then," the senior agent opened the file in front of him and pulled out an old NCIS ID that he'd stuck in there for interrogation purposes. It was an ID that had been irrelevant for about 15 years, that hadn't been worn in the field in an age, which bore a long outdated picture of a long gone agent. He pointed to the picture. "Recognise her?"

"That's Caitlin- Special Agent Caitlin Todd; she was killed in the line of duty by a sniper. She was shot, right here," He pointed to the spot between his brows, right in the middle of his forehead. Gibbs stiffened: he hated the way that her name had sounded on his tongue. "Her picture was on Agent Bishop's desk, I got curious so I researched her when I was in the squad room. But she's been dead for 15 years, why would you ask me about her?"

"Well, you have been tracing her phone for the past 8 months!"

Taylor's smirk grew even wider. "Why on earth would you think that?"

"Special Agent Todd's cell phone was being tracked by an encrypted phone. The number of that phone was traced back to you."

The assistant laughed- a predatory laugh that didn't match his heavy Southern accent. "You can ask me whatever questions you want Agent Gibbs, but you're out of luck- the only agent I'll answer any of them to is Agent DiNozzo."

Tony, who had been stood in observation throughout this entire talk, stalked out of the room and into the hallway at this comment. If Taylor wanted to talk to him, he would be allowed to, if it led him closer to finding his partner. If not, than the assistant had better watch out. He waited as Gibbs stormed out, file in hand, and then stalked in, trying his best to look intimidating.

"So why were you tracking Agent Todd's phone?" Tony took the seat opposite the suspect.

"Such formality from you Anthony," Taylor tutted, "I thought you two were way more intimate then that."

Gibbs stared at his agent through the viewing glass- what could the suspect mean? Was this what Tony had been hiding?

"I don't have a clue what you're on about." Tony picked his words carefully, trying not to let himself stiffen or show any signs of retaliation- if the ME said anything more about that, it could get him fired. "We were good friends."

Something purely evil glinted in Taylor's eyes. "But Tony, good friends don't sleep with each other!"

Although he could feel his boss glaring at him already through the glass, Tony kept it together. Any sign of anger meant that the suspect had beaten him, and he wasn't going to let that happen.

Though he glared at his agent through the glass, Gibbs was shocked. If Tony and Kate had done that, then surely…

"How did you feel when you found out that Kate's daughter was also yours?" He gloated, lowering his voice slightly.

"You leave my daughter out of this." Tony could feel anger building up inside of him, anger so strong that it would make him burst.

Now it was all so obvious to Gibbs. Why hadn't he seen Tony in the girl from the start?!

"She looks just like her, don't you think?" Taylor continued, relishing the agent's discomfort, knowing that he'd meet his fate the second he left the room. "Her hair, her face, those eyes- just like the ones that you gazed lovingly into when…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Tony shouted, unable to cope with anymore heartless taunting. "Interrogation's over." He spat, stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

He leaned against the wall, contemplating what he would say to Gibbs. The boss was already upon him before he'd made up his mind.

"WHAT THE HELL DINOZZO!"

" _Such formality from you Anthony."_

"YOU KNOW THE RULES!"

" _But Tony, good friends don't sleep with each other."_

"I COULD FIRE YOU RIGHT HERE ON THE SPOT!"

" _How did you feel when you found out that Kate's daughter was also yours?"_

"THEN WHY DON'T YOU, AGENT GIBBS?" He yelled. "Go ahead! Fire me, and the others will leave with me! Lord knows that you've gotten worse as you've gotten older- the team is hanging on the edge: if you fire me, it'll fall apart!"

Gibbs suppressed a sigh. Through Tony's harsh words, he knew that his agent was right: the team needed a leader- one that was always there to lead them. They needed a leader like Tony. "When did it happen?" He murmured.

"The Saturday before I came back after the plague- the Saturday before she died." Tony's voice was husky with emotion. "She was the one that took care of me, came and visited me everyday just to check that I was alright. She was the only one of you who even bothered with me during that lonely week."

"And the girl, she's your daughter?"

Tony nodded.

"Well then," Gibbs hid a smile, he wasn't really angry- he just needed Tony to tell him the truth. There was no way in hell that he'd ever fire him, "you'd better prepare a speech: I'm sure the others will want to know everything."

The only thing Tony could do was stare after his boss as he stalked off down the corridor.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Aria! I will either update on Tuesday or Thurday next week as Wednesday is going to be extremely busy for me!**

 **Come back soon for more,**

 **Louise :)**


	16. Chapter 16: Dr Kate's Sister

After quarter of an hour rehearsing his speech, Tony returned to the squad room and revealed all to his team, allowing Aria to chip in now and then (as she was present).

From his eventful sick leave, to his first meeting with Aria, to the daughter discovery, to the explosion, to the interrogation, Tony told all, and when he'd finished, he felt distinctively sick of talking.

"Woah," Tim gaped, "you've been busy." He turned to his wife, "I can't believe that you didn't let anything slip!"

Abby smirked. "Some things just have to be kept quiet!"

"So…" Ellie began, though she was cut off by a new arrival in the bullpen.

"Morning all!" Dr Rachel Cranston greeted.

Aria stared at the new arrival: although she knew that she'd never laid eyes on her before, the woman looked somewhat familiar to her.

"Hello Dr!" Tim replied, glancing at Tony briefly, "What can we help you with today?"

"Actually, Agent McGee, it's more what I can do to help you! Well, Agent DiNozzo at least!"

"Ok then," Tony said, "what can you do to help me?"

"I heard that you recently just escaped an accident," Rachel answered, "and, as is protocol, you need a psych evaluation from me to allow you to operate back in the field!"

Aria sniggered into her sweater sleeve as her dad turned to her, rolling his eyes and mouthing 'great' sarcastically.

"Shall we start now?" The doctor smiled unknowingly.

Tony searched around for a distraction, desperately eyeing up his surroundings. Eventually, he turned to Aria, and a huge smile spread across his features. "Actually," he grinned, "I'd like to introduce you to somebody!" He beckoned to his daughter, who stood up and moved over to stand beside him.

Rachel's jaw dropped. She instantly saw something in the girl, something that immediately brought up images of her late sister. Whether it was the hazel eyes or the chocolate hair, or the obvious maturity lurking inside, she couldn't quite tell. "Who?" She whispered.

"Rachel Cranston, meet Aria Song: my daughter. Aria, meet Rachel: you're mother's only sister- your aunt."

Rachel's hand flew to cover her mouth as she gasped. Now she saw it. She took a step closer to her newly revealed niece, taking her in.

"You're Katie's daughter?" She murmured.

Aria was dumbfounded, only managing to mutter a small "Yes" in response.

Rachel nodded, shocked. "So that must mean that my sister… she's _alive_?"

Tony grinned. "Yes, she's alive. And I'll go to the ends of the Earth to find her and bring her back."

The doctor sniffled, blinking back tears. "We have to go out sometime soon," she said to Aria, who smiled at her and nodded, "as for you Agent DiNozzo," she smirked, "it's time for your evaluation!"

Tony followed Rachel up the flight of stairs and along the landing to the conference room. He was glad that she'd been so accepting of the news. He sat down in one of the chairs surrounding the long table in the room, watching the doctor as she opened his NCIS employee file.

Just as Rachel opened her mouth to begin, there was a knock at the door and Ellie Bishop entered the room.

"I just went to check on the suspect," she stated, "he wants to talk; now."

Tony turned to Rachel apologetically. She caught his look and reassured him, saying: "If this is gonna help you find Kate, then I can wait."

The agent nodded and exited the room. As he left, Tony cracked his knuckled: if Taylor dared to humiliate him again, this interrogation would get messy.

No more Mr Nice Guy.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Aria!**

 **I recently found out that a certain family member has started reading this fic, so hi- I know you'll read this at some point! ;)**

 **Louise :)**


	17. Chapter 17: Interrogation: Round 2

"Agent DiNozzo," Taylor scorned, "done having a temper tantrum?"

"Funny," Tony smirked, sitting down in the chair opposite the suspect. For a while, the two men just stared and glared at each other in silence before Taylor spoke.

"You giving me the silent treatment now?"

"You know what? I wish I could." Tony smirked. "But I need answers, and I will go to whatever lengths to get them. If it takes me sitting here and talking you to death, then I will, and if it takes me to inflict pain, then believe me, I will. So start talking."

Taylor laughed, but appeared to be nervous. "Ok then, since you asked to nicely.

"I started off as a young Mossad trainee. I once loved the lifestyle: the thrill of dangerous missions, the excitement of being so feared, but as I grew older, it became too tame for me- boring even! So when my good friend Ari Haswari suggested going rogue and becoming his partner in crime, I took up the opportunity.

"We worked well together: he was the brave one who gathered the men and carried out the deeds, while I worked behind the scenes as the devious one, concocting plans and figuring out how and when they would work. That's why, when your boss latched onto Haswari, he didn't come across me: I kept out of the way even though I was well known amongst all of the men. I barely existed to the outside world.

"When Ari was killed and all of our men were imprisoned, I fled. I lay low, changed my identity and hid all of my past work. I stayed that way for years up until about 6 months ago."

"What happened 6 months ago?" Tony enquired, looking up from his notes.

"I was contacted by a group of my old men. They were out of jail and looking for revenge. Somehow, they'd discovered that former Special Agent Kate Todd was alive and living under the name of Gabriella Song with her daughter. They hired me to find her, abduct her and the girl and bring them to the group. However, when I went to do the job, she was prepared and the girl was out somewhere. She went down with a fight. I left without the girl- I was running out of patience."

"Does this group have a name?"

"Yes, but I don't know it."

Tony fumed with anger. "How can you be hired by a group of people that you don't even know the name of?"

Taylor shrugged. "They are former agents as well- they know how to cover things up."

"What about a location?"

"Don't know that either: I met them in an alleyway in the middle of town, they never gave one."

"Is there anyone who might know a name or location?"

Taylor thought for a minute. His eyes darkened and his pupils narrowed as he replied. "My former employers."

" _I started off as a young Mossad trainee."_

Without another word or question, Tony left the interrogation room.

He stormed down to the squad room and over to his desk. On his computer, he typed in a name and agency. A phone number popped up and he dialled it on his cell. It took four rings before the other end of the line crackled into action.

" _Director David,"_ the woman's familiar voice answered.

"Miss Ziva David, it has been too long." Tony smirked.

" _DiNozzo, what do you want after all these years?"_ Ziva asked, sounding irritable already.

"A favour from Mossad."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for such a long disapperance! It won't happen again! Expect some Ziva action in the next few chapters- she's back!**

 **I will be uploading some more short fics soon, maybe some Christmas ones!**

 **Louise :)**


	18. Chapter 18: Firey Feline

Various whispers, mumbles and mutters echoed through the NCIS squad room as Mossad Director Ziva David stalked through with predatory ease. Perhaps some of her former work associates would've attempted to greet her if she didn't shoot vicious glares and the occasional snarl at them, but as she did so, the kept their distance: she was obviously at the top of Mossad's command chain for a reason. She stormed over to her old area of the bullpen and, upon finding an unfamiliar (and in her mind unwanted) blonde female sat at her late desk, stopped in her tracks, drew a large blade from her pocket and began to twiddle it between her fingertips.

"Excuse me," she scowled as her clear replacement looked up to meet her stare, "have I come all the way from Israel to be marvelled at like a zoo animal or am I actually here for a reason?"

Eleanor Bishop, the occupant of the desk, refused to be intimidated by Ziva's fowl attitude and her abnormally large knife and simply smiled at her, closing the case file that she was editing. "You must be Ziva David, I've heard so much about you!"

Ziva couldn't help that she was in such a bad mood: she was a busy woman- she had better things to do then be Special Agent DiNozzo's one-off Mossad link. She'd left her duties as director to take the earliest flight from her country to the US, bringing classified information to a teammate who she hadn't communicated with since the day they parted ways for good. It didn't make it any more endurable that he wasn't even the one meeting her- it was some random agent who had replaced her. "Um… Who are you?" She scorned.

"I'm Special Agent Bishop, you can call me Ellie," Ellie responded, trying not to lash out at the former NCIS employee for being so blinking disrespectable.

"Is Agent DiNozzo going to show up or am I damned to speak to you for the short amount of precious time that I'll be spending here?" Ziva snapped just as Tony emerged from where he'd been standing and listening the whole time alongside Aria, who stayed hidden, intrigued by this firey character.

"Yes I am here, and I won't have you talk to my colleague like that." He frowned, coming to stand face to face with his old friend (and flame).

Ziva looked directly into his eyes, her pupils narrowing as she smirked. "Why? Did you sleep with her like you did with Agent Todd?" All of the other agents in the room hurriedly returned to their work and tried to shut out the intense conversation going on at the end of the room-they knew that it was best not to get involved in any MOssad drama. It wasn't often that Tony lost his temper (or Ziva for that matter), but when they did, things got messy real quick. "Is she bearing your second accident kid?" Ziva hissed in his ear, causing him to instantly see red.

Tony swiftly took a step away from Ziva. Why was she acting like this towards him? They'd been on good terms when she left. Well, one thing was certain: calling his daughter an accident was just crossing the line, and so was suggesting that he slept with all of his workmates.

"Elevator." He growled under his breath, "Now."

Ziva said nothing, simply dumping her rucksack on top of Ellie's file before flouncing off in the direction of the elevator. Tony sighed, mouthing "sorry" at his friend before following the firey feline that was Ziva David. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

 **A/N: Happy new year everybody! Thank you for reading my fanfiction throughout this past year and for all of the nice reviews that I've had from you all! I have many story ideas written down, so I hope you stick around while I bring them out!**

 **Louise :)**


	19. Chapter 19: Elevator Chats

Tony slammed down the emergency stop button the second that the elevator doors slid shut. Ziva arriving and insulting Ellie was one thing, but calling his daughter an accident was too far. Even if she had been an accident, did that make her any less special? Did that mean that he didn't care about her? No. No, it didn't. However, he wasn't about to ruin his reputation in front of all of the NCIS agents in the squad room by having a shouting match with an old colleague. It had to be dealt with behind closed doors, 'professionally' and 'gracefully'.

"WHAT IS YOU'RE PROBLEM?" He yelled, furious with her for making him appear a fool in front of everyone. "WHY DO YOU SUDDENLY HAVE SUCH AN ISSUE WITH ME?"

"Because you lied to me!" Ziva screamed, shoving him in the chest, causing him to slam into the elevator wall.

"I never lied to you about anything Miss David! So if that's the only excuse you have, then this conversation is over!"

"You never told me that you had a daughter, or that you and your precious Kate even had a relationship in the first place. From what I heard, you two seemed like you hated each other!"

"First off," Tony lowered his voice slowly, hoping that Ziva would do the same, "I didn't know that I had a daughter a week ago, let alone when we were working together, so I'm sorry that it was kind of impossible to tell you."

"Fair enough," Ziva muttered in her head, keeping her expression twisted into a frown.

"Secondly, it wasn't really worth telling you about." He sighed, "The romantic relationship that we had only lasted for about 3 days. Even if those 3 days were some of the best in my life- it was barely a relationship to boast about."

Ziva's expression softened ever so slightly, it was pretty obvious now why he hadn't told her- it would've caused both of them complications.

"Finally, I _never could've_ hated her. We fought like cat and dog, but it was harmless banter, not heated conflict. We always had some sort of tension between us, but it wasn't of that sort: it was of a kind that I couldn't decipher and still can't to this day. I think it was impossible for anyone to hate her, even the guy who killed her didn't hate her: if that doesn't say something then I don't know what does."

Ziva's frown had now completely vanished. She held out her left hand for her former colleague to shake and Tony took it. "No hard feelings, no more hiding anything important." Tony nodded, glancing down at the hand which he once dreamed of holding, but no longer did. His feelings for Ziva had passed, and he knew that she felt the same by the huge diamond that she displayed on her ring finger.

"What's his name then?" He asked, gesturing to it.

She smiled brightly, "I know you too well to tell you that- you'd track him down and tell him my most embarrassing moments."

Tony smirked cheekily, "I've missed you, Ziva David."

"We don't have time to catch up; I have information for you on a former friend of mine that you requested. Taylor?"

"Well go on then, spill!"

Ziva took a deep breath before beginning. "Taylor and my brother were friends from an extremely early age- our fathers were old training buddies who remained friends for years. Their children followed in their footsteps, training for Mossad together even though they both shone in different places.

"Ari specialised in weaponry and was an expert on surviving in the killing field, while Taylor was better behind the drawing board, coming up with plans and checking how they would work when they were needed. This is why they worked so well as a team- as partners.

"I knew what they were up to because my father ordered me to track my brother and keep an eye on him. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known anything about their plans to kidnap Agent Todd or break into autopsy because they worked so well together underneath Mossad's radar."

"Why didn't we know about Taylor when Ari was about?"

"He never did any of the dirty work, and was barely known by identity among Ari's network anyway. Nobody knew his name, but knew he was there, always lurking in the shadows behind the blueprints, the silent but dangerous second in command."

"When did he officially go rogue from Mossad?" Tony enquired.

Ziva hesitated, considering this for a second. "He officially vanished from the radar in early April, and was completely untraceable. I personally didn't think that he was alive until you called me. I know nothing of his movements from when he left until he arrived in your custody and I was called to say he'd been found."

"Is there anyone linked to Ari's old group who went rogue but is traceable?"

"Actually yes," Ziva smiled, handing him an ID photo. "Benjamin Rowe," she stated as he observed the photo. "My brothers third in command. Vanished from the agency, but was easily traceable, due to him always missing the useful lessons of keeping invisible."

Benjamin Rowe was clearly Israelian, with dark hair and almost-black eyes. He had a glare that would pin anybody else to one spot, even just by looking at a photo of him. Tony could already tell that he would be a force to be reckoned with.

"There is one thing that Taylor told my brother before Agent Todd's death. One thing that you should probably keep in mind when trying to get information out of him."

Tony nodded, listening intently.

"He swore on his life, that if everything failed- if all of their planning went down the drain and he was the only one left out of all of the men Ari hired who was dedicated enough to his work to carry on, that he'd wipe out the entirety of Team Gibbs. Starting with 'weak' and ending with the man himself."

"Is he dedicated enough?"

"Definitely."

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, I'm actually uploading on time for once! I hope you enjoyed this, more coming soon!**

 **Louise :)**


	20. Chapter 20: The Sloppy Spy

"Abby, McGee!" Tony shouted as he and Ziva strode into the lab, every step filled with purpose, their arms still at their sides, their expressions perfect pictures of business. "What've you got on Ben Rowe?" The pressure of practically running the team was getting to Tony, along with the pressure of being a parent, and finding his partner. He was panicking, but didn't show it on the outside: it would just throw the team into chaos.

Sensing Tony's stressed mood, Abby hastily pulled an old Mossad file up on the plasma screen and whirled around to face the team leader and forreign agency director. Word had spread extremely quickly about the blow up in the bullpen, and she had mentally prepared herself to separate the two if they began lashing out at each other, but at the moment, they looked fairly settled so she began talking. McGee stayed facing the computer screen, clearly working on cracking a location.

"Not loads," she smiled, "but enough.

"Benjamin Rowe was born in Israel, in a small town, where he lived all the way up to the age of 16, when he joined Mossad.

"He trained in close combat, and rarely turned up to what Director David classed as 'important lessons' such as how to cover his tracks and staying hidden in the shadows. He was good with guns, knives, any weapons that you can think of, he could handle. However, hiding locations, coming up with cover stories, these things were his weakest subjects. This is why when he went rogue at the age of 20; he was used in the field rather than as a spy.

"Would he have met Kate?"

"Probably," Ziva interrupted, "when my brother was hiding out in that farm house, Ben was also there helping build the weapons. He wasn't good with being sneaky, but his reputation with violence would allow him to kidnap anyone with ease. He would've had to have been in a group though- when it's just him, it tended to get messy."

The ruined state of Kate's house flashed into mind as Ziva said this. Tony breathed slowly. "If he's so bad at hiding, you managed to find a location?"

"We managed to find a link, Tim's currently tracing it. I doubt that it's where Kate's hidden, but it's definitely a start," Abby stated boldly.

The computer let out a bleep, and immediately, Tim was typing on the keyboard. "We sure did!" He said as the address also popped up on the screen. Tony swiftly drew out a notebook and scrawled it down.

"Director David, go and fetch Special Agent Bishop," Tony ordered, looking Ziva in the eye, daring her to challenge his choice of bringing along the female agent instead of Tim, "and grab your gear- we have a raid to carry out!"

After glaring at him for a second, Ziva gave a curt nod to Abby and McGee and strode out of the lab. The two lab dwellers watched her go, hearing the elevator get called and then vanish up a floor.

"So…" Tim began.

"Is it true that you two had a huge fight upstairs?" Abby exclaimed excitedly.

Tony sighed and nodded.

"What did she say?"

"Basically, that I sleep with all of my female co-workers, and that I have accident kids."

"Does Aria know? Does your daughter know that she was just called an accident?" Abby enquired.

"No, and I don't plan on her knowing. I don't want her involved in the shooting or violence either. I just need to keep her safe."

Abby and McGee shared a glance. "You should probably get going, the longer you take, the higher the risk of anything bad happening to Kate."

"Thanks guys!" Tony cried as he left the lab, "Wish me luck!"

 **A/N: Hello, I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Aria! Another oneshot will be uploaded on Sunday- it's about Tony leaving NCIS :(. Stay tuned for more fanfiction soon!**

 **Louise :)**


	21. Chapter 21: We've Found Her

Tony, Ellie and Ziva burst through the front door of Benjamin Rowe's not so secret hideout without a second of hesitation, guns drawn and ready to fire if needed. Although they were here looking for a vicious criminal, the senior field agent couldn't help glancing behind him every so often, just to check that his companions weren't attacking each other instead: it was clear that Ziva had a strong feeling of hatred towards Ellie, and it was obvious that Ellie was wary of the Mossad agent to the point that she wouldn't even look her directly in the eye. The two women had rode in the car together in silence, neither of them so much as blinking in the other's direction.

Swiftly, the trio spread through the cramped rooms inside of the house, covering each other's backs, signalling to each other silently, and yelling 'Clear!' as each room was determined so. Ziva went off into the rotten kitchen that was joined to a messy lounge, Ellie took the front bedroom and Tony took the bathrooms (somehow there were two). To Tony's surprise, Ziva and Ellie actually worked well together and communicated with each other without hesitation.

"Clear!" He called as he observed the final room- the back bathroom. After taking a quick look around, he moved back into the lounge, where Ellie was already waiting.

"That's everything," she stated, surveying the largest room in the house.

"Where's Ziva?"

"In here!" The Mossad Director cried, emerging from the kitchen, twiddling something gold between her thumb and forefinger, the sparse winter light making it the metal twinkle- a key, "I found something," she winked at Ellie triumphantly, gesturing into the back into the room she'd already come from.

Ellie glowered at her female companion, but was quick to move into the space that Ziva gestured too. Curiously, Tony followed, wondering what she'd found.

Ziva led them to the back of the kitchen, where the wall was covered in cupboards from ceiling to floor. She crouched down, opening one of the bottom ones, and began to hastily move boxes of out of date cereals and dry foods. As the cupboard was emptied, Tony couldn't believe his eyes: there, right at the back, hidden in the darkness was a door. Ziva reached in and used the mysterious key to unlock it. The door was pushed away to reveal a secret passageway, extremely low but wide, meaning that they would be able to follow it if they crawled.

Tony drew his sig and knelt down in front of the tunnel, murmuring a "Well done" to Ziva. He didn't tell the two ladies to follow him, but he knew that at least one of them would.

Although the space was enclosed and no light could be found, the pathway was easy enough to follow, going around and down in a spiralling fashion. Thankfully, the ground was had an easy grip to it, so Tony didn't slide the whole way down uncontrollably.

Eventually, he reached the bottom- where the claustrophobic gap opened up into a large room. After fumbling at the walls briefly, he stumbled across a light switch, and flinched as a bright light practically blinded him for a few minutes (his eyes had become accustomed to the dark). Sensing his vulnerability, he blinked and strained them open.

The room was actually smaller than he first thought, with a central workbench taking up most of the space and the odd sideboard taking up the rest. The grotty walls were plastered with photos, and this was what surprised him the most.

The photos were all surveillance shots, apart from the odd ID picture. They all contained three specific people- himself, Kate and of course; Aria. They ranged from back when he and Kate were partners, to the day that he and Aria were injured in her destroyed home. There were shots of Kate and him in the field, questioning witnesses, leaving the hospital after he was discharged after the plague incident and kissing in his living room. There were photos of his daughter, reminding him of what he'd missed: her first steps, her first day of school, her 8th grade dance. Obviously, Ben had been tracking Kate and Aria for years, meaning that Mossad's intel hadn't been completely reliable and it was as if he was hitting him in the chest over and over again, taunting him: any good dad would've been there for his daughter through those memories, would've watched her grow into the young woman that she was, would've held her during the bad times and laughed with her during the good. However, he wasn't a good dad, and he probably never would be: he hadn't known that she'd existed until she'd found him, pleading for him to help her, because she had no one else that could. How had a criminal seen all of these memories while he'd been sat on his ass in an office building, working as hard as he could to keep people like him away from those that he loved?

He jumped out of his skin as Ziva gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "You alright?" She asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, great," he forced a smile, "let's get to work."

The two pulled on rubber gloves and took their cameras out of their cases. Ziva started scanning the sideboards for useful documents and evidence while Tony sifted through numerous sheets of paper on the workbench. He came across many letters, plans and blueprints, but there was one that specifically made him curious, but also made his heart sink.

"I think that Ben has been keeping tabs on Agent Todd for longer than anyone ever suspected," Ziva observed, "there's documents dated way back lying around here!" She turned to face Tony, a handful of crumpled papers in her hand. Noticing his annoyed expression, she walked over and peered over his shoulder at the blueprint that he was holding. Immediately she frowned.

The blueprint was of a warehouse that both of them recognised too well-Tony from a personal horror, Ziva from crime scene photos and secret exploring. Their eyes wondered away from the rooftop where this whole disaster started and to a room coloured in with neon green highlighter.

"Tony," Ziva breathed, "I think we just found where Ben's keeping Kate!"

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, sorry that it's been 2 weeks since I've updated! I hope this chapter makes up for it! What do you think of Tony's revelation? Will he ever comfront his daughter about his lack of parenting? Tune in next week to find out!**

 **Louise :)**


	22. Chapter 22: Another Day

_She was surrounded by darkness, yet she still knew exactly where she was._

 _Ever since that fateful day, she'd trained herself to never forget anything- and that included the past. Although she kept them locked away, memories of all kinds were spinning around in her mind. Of course there were good ones, but mostly the bad dominated her thoughts- the ones that frightened her most, the ones that she'd had to fight to survive through._

 _This was the place in which she'd ceased to exist; the place that had brought so many people pain, unbearable pain that people had to suffer through every day. Though it may only be a simple warehouse, abandoned and crumbling into decay, it was the building of her nightmares, and Kate had many nightmares nowadays._

 _She had no idea how long that she'd been trapped in this building, but she was pretty sure that it had been at least a few days. Most people would've lost hope, but she hadn't: as long as Aria was still free, she had a chance of being found._

 _Aria. She hadn't been able to move her daughter out of her mind. Did she feel betrayed that her mother was not who she thought she was? Surely she knew by now who she truly was? Surely, she'd gone unknowingly into the open arms of her father, just as she had indirectly instructed her to do when hurriedly writing her note?_

 _And Tony… Had he accepted his daughter? Was he caring for her, keeping her safe, in a way that she'd never been able to? Was he mad at her, for never even attempting to contact and tell him that he was a dad? He hadn't sounded mad on the phone, so surely that was good. Would he still care for her as he once did?_

 _One thing that she'd spent her time doing was slowly untying her hands from behind her back. Her fingers were raw and blistered because of picking at the rope restraining her for so long, but now, she was fairly sure that she was close to freeing herself; she'd probably be another day before she'd be completely free, but she'd been slowly concocting a plan to escape, and was hoping that it would work._

 _Her hands weren't the only part of her that was injured: she couldn't tell what she looked like in the near no light, but she could feel dried blood plastered on her forehead, her arms were scratched from her fight with her captors and she was positive that her left ankle was broken._

 _Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, footsteps sounded from down the corridor, drawing closer with every passing second. Kate dropped her hands loosely and bowed her head, pretending to be unconscious. She whispered a silent prayer that she would soon be found just as the door opened._

* * *

 **A/N: Hello, I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in nearly 3 WEEKS! I'm making up for it this coming week as I will be uploading a chapter of Aria everyday, and a oneshot/ short fic every other day! I'm also sorry that this chapter is so short, but I thought that a Kate update was needed! Come back tomorrow for a fluffy oneshot and another chapter of Aria!**

 **Louise :)**


	23. Chapter 23: My Responisibility

"Right," Ziva began, "What's the plan?"

It was about 8:30 AM and the whole team, including Abby, Ducky and Jimmy, were gathered in the bullpen, staring intently at Tony, who was stood before the plasma screen. Everyone was awaiting the final rescue plan in anticipation, and wanting to know what their roles would be in it.

"Well, it's pretty obvious that the place will be heavily guarded, so to even have a chance of getting into the warehouse, we're gonna have to have someone operational on the inside." Tony's eyes ran over the room and rested on Ellie Bishop, who was stood with her back leaning against his desk. "It'll have to be someone who is an obvious threat as an NCIS Agent, but wasn't close to Kate personally so that they can't be used as a weapon against her. So that eliminates all of us but Bishop, as Ziva would instantly be recognised by Ben Rowe as part of a plan."

Ziva scowled at Ellie as the newer agent smiled at the prospect of going undercover.

"To be sure of our route into the warehouse, you're going to have a camera," he held up a small white button that looked identical to those on the front of an ordinary white shirt, "that also doubles as a microphone."

"What about an earwig?" Ellie enquired, "Won't you need a way to communicate with me?"

"Too obvious," Ziva chimed in irritably, "the first thing that he'll do is check for an earwig, even if he doesn't know how to identify a camera. There won't be much worth saying anyway," she sneered.

"Ziva's right," Tony frowned, "it's too risky."

"Ok then," Ellie ignored Ziva's triumphant smirk, "what am I doing?"

"At 11 PM, you will leave here and go to the warehouse. Pretend to be snooping around outside, trying to find a way in. There is no doubt that you'll attract someone's attention by lurking around at night, so you'll have to put up a fight before being forced to go inside. We don't know for sure, but you'll hopefully get put in with Kate. Since you will be wearing the camera, we'll know exactly which corridors you've gone down, and which room you're in.

"You'll have to stick it out until 9 AM on the dot so that it looks like he's successfully kidnapped an NCIS agent, and then we'll come and join you. At that point, you need to get Kate out safely and bring her back here."

As Tony began to talk McGee, Gibbs, Ellie and Ziva through the entrances and exits to the building, Aria grimaced inwardly, rage and hurt rising inside of her. What was she supposed to be doing during this? Was she just supposed to be sat back here, waiting and twiddling her thumbs while they risked their lives?

"Um… What is my role in this plan?" She asked, everybody's eyes turning to face her.

"What do you mean?" Tony replied.

"What am I supposed to be doing while you all go on your epic rescue mission?"

"You're going to stay here, with Abby and Ducky." Tony answered, "Why, is there a problem?"

"Actually there is, Special Agent DiNozzo," everybody looked, wide-eyed at Tony as his daughter walked up to him and stood facing him, "why can't I help?"

"Because you are 15 years old, and you have absolutely no experience in the field whatsoever!" Tony stated, the protective parent side that he never realised that he had coming out.

"SO?!"

"So it is too dangerous for you! I don't want to be responsible for you getting injured with no training!"

"Oh yeah because suddenly you feel responsible for looking after me, you haven't even been bothered about me for the past 15 years!"

The whole team sucked in a collective breath, and Tony flinched.

"I don't mean to offend you, but I didn't know that you existed until extremely recently," he replied sharply.

"And you wouldn't have cared for me even if you had brought me up!" She shouted, causing other agents in the squad room to turn around and stare.

"That is not true!" Tony yelled, "And even if it was, you would still be my daughter and as your preferred parent is unavailable, you _are_ my responsibility, whether you like it or not! And since you are underage and I am a fully grown adult-your dad, my word is higher than yours, and I say you stay here! I will not have you getting your brains blown out like your mum almost did!"

"You will never be my dad!" Aria hissed, before storming out of the bullpen.

Tony went to follow her, but Ziva blocked him with an arm. "I'll go," she murmured, running after the stormy teenager.

Once Ziva was out of sight, the senior field agent collapsed into his chair and put his head in his hands.

"God," he muttered, "she's so much like Kate when she's mad."

* * *

"Aria!" Ziva called as she chased the teenager down the stairs to the main entrance. "Aria, wait up!"

Aria whirled around, eyes blazing, to see the Mossad Director running after her. "What do you want Ziva?" She scowled, folding her arms across her chest.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go somewhere, just to get out for a bit. You seem like you need it!"

The girl sighed. She already felt sick to her stomach about what she'd said to her father, but she was too stubborn to go back and apologize- she was really annoyed that she couldn't do anything to help her mum. "Yeah, sure. What did you have in mind?"

Ziva said nothing, just grabbing her by the arm with a smirk, and leading her to their destination.

* * *

 **A/N: Ooh! Where do you think that Ziva is taking Aria? Come back tomorrow to find out!**

 **Louise :)**


	24. Chapter 24: A Natural

"What is this place?" Aria asked, as Ziva flashed her ID badge at the reception desk of the building. They were both carrying bags of gym kit that they had bought on the way, and had their hair tied back in matching ponytails.

"This," Ziva replied as they turned away from the main desk and walked through another set of doors, "is where your mum, dad and every other local fed comes or has come in the past to practise close combat and shooting: the most important skills for a field agent!"

"You mean, I get to train? I get to learn how to be like you?"

"Well, only the basics, but it may help you at some point," Ziva smiled.

"Let's get started then! Close combat first!" Aria squealed excitedly.

After getting changed into their gym clothes, Ziva and Aria began with their close combat training. At first, they used the punch bags, working on strength and stamina. By the end of the hour that they'd spent on them, Aria's arms were practically dead, but she'd definitely built up her strength and stamina.

Then, they moved onto wrestling and self defence. Ziva demonstrated where to place the most effective blows, and how to dodge and anticipate future movements. She also showed how to flip people, and how to do it while inflicting the most amount of pain possible. By the end of this session, Aria could successfully flip Ziva onto the ground, and knew exactly how to inflict (and endure) pain in the appropriate places.

"Now," Ziva grinned from where she was lying on the floor, "we're on to the fun stuff!"

Ziva lead Aria out to another room where she gave her a pair of ear defenders and a bullet proof vest, along with a pair of goggles. They were about to head outside into the next phase of their training when Ziva handed her companion a black jacket. As Aria took the jacket and unfolded it, she read what it said on the back in bold white letters: NCIS, Naval Criminal Investigative Service. She gaped at Ziva before going to put it on and noticing a name scrawled in black marker on the inside label: Special Agent Kate Todd.

"Where did you get this?" She asked, putting on the jacket and zipping it up.

The Mossad Director placed a NCIS cap on the girl's head before replying. "It was given to me when I joined NCIS, but I didn't have the heart to claim it as my own- it felt too disrespectful, as if I was trying to wipe her from her teammate's memories, and I didn't want to do that at all. So I pretended that I'd lost it and got another one instead. I hid it somewhere and I wasn't going to tell anyone about it until I saw you and thought that you may like to have it!"

Aria smiled at Ziva and adjusted the cap on her head before following her outside. When she saw what they were going to do next, she jumped up and down delightedly.

They were in a shooting range; a shooting range with targets for aiming at and different sections for different types of situations.

"Ready?" Ziva asked, handing her a sig and directing her to a certain area.

The two of them spent the majority of the afternoon practising on firing at a stationary target. Ziva showed Aria how to fire a gun, and how to reload it afterwards. After only a few attempts she was hitting the bull's eye continuously, and had moved on to moving targets. Once she had mastered moving targets, evening was closing in and the training centre was about to shut for the night. By this point, it was pretty obvious to Ziva that the girl was a natural and that she didn't need much training at all.. However, there was one more thing that Aria wanted to try.

"What's that, through there?" She asked, pointing at a weapon that was separate to everything else, set up in its only compartment.

Ziva's face fell as she spotted what she was pointing to. "Oh… That's a sniper- a Bravo 51."

"What's it used for?"

The older woman hesitated before replying, "It allows the shooter to hit a target from an extremely long range. It's extremely hard to use, and it takes years to become an expert at it- after my decade or so of training, I still stuggle to use one sometimes. It takes an extremely talented shooter to master one."

Immediately, Aria ran over to it, and Ziva followed reluctantly, dreading what was coming next.

Aria lined herself up behind the machine, allowing herself to zone out and concentrate, aiming for the target that seemed miles away. She placed her finger on the trigger and fired quickly.

A deafening shot rang out across the range, causing her to stumble back and into a wall. Once she had recovered, she looked up, hearing Ziva gasp as she saw the target.

The bullet had struck the target right in the centre- the hardest spot to hit in the entire range.

* * *

 **A/N: So Aria has learned the basics of field training, and appears to be a natural! Where could this come in useful? Come back tomorrow to find out!**

 **Louise :)**


	25. Chapter 25: Another Agent's Mission

Aria arrived back at NCIS at 7 PM still wearing her mum's jacket, and headed for the break room, in an attempt to both avoid her dad and cure the pang of hunger in the pit of her stomach.

She drew some loose change from the pocket of her jeans and inserted it into the vending machine, selecting the candy bar that she wanted and waiting for it to vend. Just as the bar was about drop into the collection area, the machine stopped, leaving it hanging over the edge of the metal vendor.

"Oh come on," she groaned, attempting to get at the candy bar by shaking the machine violently. Thankfully, she was the only one in the room- otherwise she would've got some peculiar stares from other people. Or, at least, she thought she was the only one in the room.

A large hand came down in front of her and slammed into the glass on the front of the machine. Aria jumped as the candy bar fell into the collection bay and whipped around to see who'd slammed the machine into action. As she did so, she was met by the face of her dad, who grinned down at her.

"Having a bit of trouble there?"

"No," she replied shortly, turning away from him.

"Aria," Tony muttered, catching her by the arm before she could leave, "We need to talk; please?"

Reluctantly, Aria nodded and sat down at one of the break room tables, twiddling her thumbs as Tony took a seat opposite her. There was an awkward moment of silence before he spoke quietly.

"Is that your mum's jacket?"

"Yeah," she murmured, "Why?"

"I was just thinking how much you looked like her in it." He answered, staring at her, his heart aching as he realised how much she looked like Kate.

Aria sighed, peering up at her dad. "What was she like? At work I mean?"

Tony chuckled, "Annoying," he laughed, "always determined that she was right," he paused, noticing his daughter's confused expression, "but those were the things that made me like her so much. Although she was annoying, she always kept me on my toes and because she was always so sure that she was right, it made me even more impressed when she was.

"She more was dedicated to her job than she was to any man and her work ethic was twice as strong as mine. She was fearless, and never showed her feelings unless she was required to." He shuddered as he remembered the times that Ari kidnapped her and took her hostage. "Even when that monster manhandled her, she didn't show fear once, just plain determination to get rid of him." Even without dropping a name, Aria could tell that he was talking about her mum's 'killer'.

"But she was caring as well. She cared so deeply for those around her, no matter how awful they were to her at times," Aria couldn't help but wonder if he meant himself, "She would protect them at all costs- give her life for them if she needed to."

Tony remembered when she'd been retrieved from Ari's farmhouse. She'd been left there alone after Ari and his men fled, and was sat outside by herself. The first thing that she'd done when the federal car had pulled up and he had stepped out was ask whether he was alright and throw her arms around him. At the time, he'd just thought that she was relieved to be rescued, but later on he'd found out that she'd been forced to call in sick otherwise Ari would have him killed by his Swedish assistant, Marta. He remembered being shocked that she'd completely signed herself over to Ari for that day in exchange for his life.

"When she 'died', it made me realise that I couldn't take the people that I loved for granted- that they could be knocked out of my life quicker than they'd become part of it. People didn't quite realise how much her death affected me, but in a way it made me a better person, and made me more protective over the things I cared for."

"Is that why you were so protective over me earlier?" Aria asked, "Because you care about me?"

Tony looked directly into her eyes before replying. "I never thought that I would have kids- I didn't think that I would ever have the time or energy to look after them. I used to think that any kids of mine would hate me for not being able to talk to them or love them like a normal parent would. There would always be the risk of them being used against me, and I didn't want to put that weight on their shoulders. I got it into my head that no kid of mine would ever be able to trust me, no matter what I did."

"When I discovered that I did have a kid, I found out that all of those thoughts had been pointless. You came to me and you trusted me instantly, because your mum trusted me, and that's how a parent-child relationship should be. And, though you may not feel the same towards me, I feel like I've known you for your whole life, and I am so thankful to have you."

Aria could feel tears pooling up in her eyes, and wiped them fiercely. "You know that I didn't mean what I said earlier, don't you? I was just annoyed that I don't get to do anything in the plan."

"Yeah, I know," he smiled, "I would be too." He checked his watch, and noticing the time, said, "I'd better go- got last minute preparations to make."

He pushed his chair out and stood up, straightening his jacket as he did so. Aria stood up alongside him, and surprised him by running around the table and hugging him tightly. She was shorter than him, but not ridiculously so, he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. Then, almost silently, she whispered something; something that brought tears to his eyes: "I love you dad."

"I love you too."

* * *

Around 3 hours later, Aria woke up.

After the encounter with Tony, she'd gone back into the squad room, sat down at his desk and gone straight to sleep. However, now it was 10:15 PM and she was wide awake, and planning to do something that was extremely daring and perhaps stupid.

The bullpen was empty: everybody from Team Gibbs was down at the lab, going over the layout of the warehouse and how they would go enter it, so nobody noticed as Aria stood up and walked over to Ellie's desk.

On the desk was a white shirt, with buttons running up the front that were identical to the camera button, a pair of black trousers, black work boots, a bullet proof vest and Ellie's NCIS gear. Without a second thought, she grabbed the clothes (excluding the gear) and bullet proof vest and ran into the bathroom swiftly to avoid any interaction with other agents.

After she emerged from the ladies room (wearing the kit), she took the camera and secured it onto the shirt, where it sat like an ordinary button. She grabbed her mum's old NCIS jacket and put it on, not bothering to zip it up, along with the replica of Ellie's badge. She didn't bother taking Ellie's ID- she looked nothing like her and would be found out instantly if she did so. This way, she could pose as any old NCIS agent. Then, she picked the lock of Ellie's gun safe and took her sig, stuffing it into the top of her boot (where it would stay hidden from her 'captors').

Finally, she grabbed a post-it and a pen and quickly scribbled a note to the team: nothing long, just a simple instruction.

She took one final look around the NCIS squad room, and, after checking that she had everything, headed for the elevator.

"I'm sorry dad," she whispered, before heading off on another agent's mission.

* * *

 **A/N: Aria has gone on her first ever mission! Come back tomorrow to find out how the team react and how it goes!**

 **Louise :)**


	26. Chapter 26: Follow The Plan

The team had exited the lab and entered the squad room, ready to see Ellie off to the warehouse. It was 10:45 PM, and the agent was supposed to be doing last minute preparations before her mission. However, when they laid their eyes on her (who had left the lab a couple of minutes before), she was doing anything but preparing. In fact, she was panicking.

"Tony, oh my god," She gasped, whirling around as him, Ziva, Tim and Abby walked over to join her. "Something really, really bad has happened," she stated, her voice filled with urgency.

"What's up?" McGee questioned, peering around the bullpen. "Where's Aria?"

"She's gone!" Ellie cried.

"What do you mean gone?" Ziva asked, sounding scornful but actually feeling incredibly worried: had the girl taken her afternoon of training too seriously?

"She's left! She's taken my gear, the camera, my sig, everything! She's gone on my mission for me!"

At this, Tony felt his heart sink with dread. Aria had gone, with absolutely no training, on another agent's mission. After being deliberately told that she wasn't part of the rescue plan, she'd gone and taken the lead role in it. In despair, he put his head in his hands.

"She's gonna get herself killed," he muttered through his fingers, "Whatever possessed her to do that?"

Ziva shuddered before replying. "I took her to the local training space earlier; we did close combat and shooting." Everybody's eyes turned to her, but Tony's were the only ones blazing with fury. "I think she took the training in her stride, and decided to use it to prove herself: to prove to you that she could do the plan as well as anyone else."

Tony's eyes softened a little: he should have suspected that something like this would happen. Of course Aria was going to want to prove that she could be part of the plan. "It's not your fault Ziva," he sighed, surprising everyone, "I should've guessed that she'd do something like this."

"What do we do then?"Tim asked, "We can't go and get her: if she's already in the area we could compromise her life."

"We do what she told us to do: she heard all of the plans, she's got all of the right stuff and she knows exactly what she's doing." Ellie chimed in, holding up the note that Aria had left on her desk. The team read it, their hands flying up to cover gaping mouths.

' _Follow the plan-AS.'_

* * *

Aria shivered in the brisk early December wind, pulling her mum's NCIS jacket tightly around her body as she walked, the sig in her boot digging into her ankle painfully. It felt strange, walking down a dark road at 11 o'clock at night alone.

There were no street lamps on the road outside the warehouse, the only faint light coming from that of the half concealed crescent moon. She's seen enough pictures to know that she was in exactly the right place. Taking a deep breath, she adjusted the gold badge at her belt and strode towards the building purposely.

Curiously, she briefly observed the outside of the warehouse for people, and determining it clear, started to check for windows and doors. She did it obviously, as if she were a Probie on their first week on the job. And although her mission was to be caught, she jumped feet when a large, scarred hand clamped down on her shoulder and shoved her back against the wall painfully.

"Who the hell are you?" A harsh, foreign voice growled.

Playing the part of a terrified newbie, she forced herself to tremble as she spoke, "S…S...Special A… A… A… Agent Fae Bright."

"Not very bright of you to come here by yourself, was it Fae?"

"N...N…No," Aria stammered, "Please let me go- I'll go straight back where I came from."

The man spun her around so she was facing him, and pressed the barrel of his gun against her forehead. At this point, she no longer had to force trembling- her fear was completely real. She thanked her lucky stars that there were no streetlights; she would've been recognised as Kate Todd's daughter instantly. "And where exactly did you come from?"

Slowly, she reached down to her belt and flashed her NCIS badge at him. She couldn't see his face at all, but she could tell that he was sneering when he asked, "And what were you sent here for?"

"I was looking for my friend," she shuddered. "She's been missing for a while, and I got a lead saying that she had been seen around these parts."

He laughed then, a cold, cruel sound. "Oh, I know where she is. I'll show you to her if you want."

Aria's heart pounded loudly in her chest as she replied, "Ok," still playing the part of a foolish Probie.

The guy grabbed her by the shoulder once more and led her inside the warehouse, which was thankfully just as dark as the outside or she probably would've been shot on the spot. There were loads of guys in the hallways who muttered things to her escort in a language that she didn't understand.

Eventually, they reached a steel door at the end of a grimy hallway. The guy drew a long, rusty key from his pocket and unlocked the door. He pushed the door open to reveal a female figure sat in a chair in the centre of the room, head down, shoulders hunched. This room appeared to be the only one in the building with light, and it was because of this that she could make out every wound on the woman.

Before she could say anything to her escort, he gave her a shove into the room, slammed the door behind her and locked it.

Immediately the woman raised her head, and she noticed her mother instantly. "Aria?" She whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"I came for you, you idiot," she replied, walking over to her and standing in front of her.

"You should not have come," Kate said, bowing her head, "but since you have, I guess I have a lot of explaining to do."

* * *

 **A/N: What will Kate say to her daughter? How will the rescue plan go with Aria as the lead rather than Ellie? Will she be found out? Come back tomorrow to find out!**

 **Louise :)**


	27. Chapter 27: I'm Listening

Once Aria had helped Kate work herself free, which wasn't much of a task since she'd been so close to doing it on her own; she sat down on the floor in front of her and waited for her to say something. For a moment, the freed agent just sat there, taking her daughter in, but after a while, she finally spoke.

"I take it you found Tony then," the words were more of a statement then a question.

"Yeah."

"Then, you found your dad."

"Yeah," Aria answered shortly, not really sure on how to respond.

"Aria, I…"

"Why didn't you tell me?" She interrupted, cutting her mother short. "Why didn't you tell me that you were a NCIS agent, or at least who my father was? You never even hinted at why I'd been memorising this apparently random guy's phone numbers (for years) until the day I came home and you were missing!"

Kate sighed. "It was all to protect you, and Tony, and everyone that I cared about: if I told you, I risked getting found, you know that I was being tracked from all angles. I also risked being used against my old teammates, for pain and grief and revenge. Knowing you, if I had told you who your dad was, you would've done exactly what you just did, left home to go and find him. It wasn't worth the danger: my friends thought me dead, and it was better that it stayed that way."

"Was it before or after you left that you found out that you were having me?"

"After. If I had known, I would've stuck up for myself and you more- would've refused to leave. If I had known before, I would've told Tony, and tried to give you the best life possible, despite the situation. If I'd known, I would've stayed and fought Ari myself, like a proper mother, defending the rights of not only herself but her child.

"It was only after I'd been given my new identity and moved that I found out that I was pregnant with you. At first I was annoyed- I'd thrown away your life. You wouldn't be able to do the things that normal kids could: go on school trips and keep up with your friends on social media. In fact, having friends in itself was risky, but I wasn't going to deprive you of that, so I found my way around that. But after you were born, I decided that there was no point in being annoyed, my situation couldn't be changed, and I then planned to give you the best possible life that I could, despite the rules and regulations that I'd been put under.

"Although I was shocked at the prospect of my co-worker- Tony being your father, I didn't regret it: he was kind, a good man, despite him being aggravating at times. I loved him more than I cared to admit back then, but thinking back, I should've said something to him. And because I loved him, I gave you an Italian name, after the heritage that he was extremely proud of having. It was like a tribute to him; since he wouldn't be able to watch you grow up like most fathers do. I knew that if anything happened to me (which something probably would), you would need someone that you could trust, who would figure out who you were and protect you at all costs; who better than your own father, who dedicates his life to protecting and saving others?"

"That's why you made me memorise his phone numbers as soon as I could read." Aria filled in.

Kate nodded. "I was right, wasn't I? He took you in?"

"Yes, he did." Aria replied, watching her mum relax visibly. "At first, I was worried: you always taught me not to trust anyone, so why should I trust man who I'd never met? But as I got to know him and the team, I grew to trust him, because no matter how desperate I was, he cared for me, perhaps loved. I've come to care for him too: he's the best father that I could've wished for."

Kate smiled, "I'm so glad." She hesitated for a minute before adding, "You look like a proper fed wearing that, like I used to."

"Well, I am your daughter, and this is your jacket," Aria smirked, "The badge is a fake though, unfortunately."

"And what sort of NCIS agent doesn't carry a gun?" Kate joked.

Aria reached down to her feet and pulled the sig out of her boot, holstering it on her belt. "A secretive one," she replied as her mum gaped.

"Tony let you carry a weapon?"

"Um… It's not mine. It's Special Agent Bishop's, I stole it. He didn't know that I was coming."

"Why?"

"He wouldn't let me take part in the rescue plan even though I knew exactly what was happening. Agent Bishop was supposed to come instead of me, but I took her kit and came early so they couldn't stop me."

For a minute, Kate was speechless. She couldn't believe that Aria had come here alone, into the heart of danger, on a mission that wasn't her. Momentarily, she considered telling her off for being so ignorant, but then she realised that it would only cause drama that wouldn't do either of them any use.

Reluctantly, Kate sighed. "Well then, I suppose you'd better tell me this plan." She gave her daughter a look of exasperation. "I'm listening."

* * *

 **A/N: So Kate and Aria have had a heart to heart! How will they act on the plan? Will they end up alright? Come back later to find out!**

 **Louise :)**


	28. Chapter 28: Take The Shot

9 AM was a peaceful time for most people, but not for the team. A black federal car drew up outside the warehouse and pulled to a sharp stop. Out jumped the team, armed to the teeth and ready to kick ass.

"Right everyone!" Tony stated, "We know what we're here for, do what you do best and fo…" He was abruptly cut off as a shot rang out and everyone ducked, dodging a bullet. Immediately, Tim whipped his head around and fired back at the shooter, causing him to scarper. "Let's go everyone!" He yelled.

The team scattered, Gibbs and Ziva going straight into the building (just as he and Kate had done years ago), Tim staying on the outskirts, making sure that no one got out but available if there was an emergency inside, Tony and Ellie climbing up the side ladder to get to the roof.

Not one of Ari's men was going to get out this time.

* * *

 _Aria and Kate pressed themselves against either side of the iron door, blending into the shadows, knowing that at some point, someone would come to get them. Kate had the sig clutched in her scratched palms, as she was the one with the most experience with it. Aria was charged with any close combat, as she was currently the stronger of the two of them._

 _Suddenly, there was the sound of footsteps running down the hallway and the door being unlocked before it was swung open and the shadow of a guy appeared in the doorway._

" _Caitlin," he called, his voice harsh and taunting. Aria realised that it was the same guy from the night before. "Miss Bright."_

 _Before the guy could say another word, Aria stepped out of the shadows, kicked him in the crotch area, twisted his arm and flipped him face first onto the concrete._

" _Let's go," Kate breathed, leading their way out of the room._

 _The two wound their way through endless corridors, Kate shooting at people who tried to interfere, hitting them square in the chest every time, and if she really needed to, Aria would pull out a few close combat tricks. Everything was going alright, until they turned a corner and crashed headfirst into Ben Rowe, the man that Aria recognised from pictures back at the NCIS headquarters._

" _Caitlin," he sneered, giving her a terrifying smirk. "Fancy finding you here."_

 _Kate swore under her breath- the only weapon that she had was empty. She thought of her daughter, who was stood behind her, and silently begged her not to try anything stupid: Ben was dangerous, and physically fighting against him would be a death wish._

" _And mini DiNozzo," he smirked, turning to face Aria, "So nice to finally meet you."_

" _Wish I could say the same," Aria retorted, looking him right in the eye._

" _Well Caitlin, we must be going. I think your friends would like to see you, don't you?" Kate froze as Ben drew a gun from his belt and pointed not in her direction, but in Aria's. "I wish we could've had a proper introduction, but I don't have a use for you, so you'll have to go."_

 _Before Kate could even move in front of her daughter, Ben fired the gun, the bullet burying itself in her daughter's chest. Aria staggered back, gasping, and collapsed onto the floor, before falling completely motionless._

" _You bastard!" Kate screamed, launching herself at Ben and attacking him with all of the Secret Service training that she could remember. However, he had been Mossad, and she was weak from being restrained for so long; so she ended up being annihilated. She knew that her daughter was wearing a bullet proof vest, but she was still extremely worried._

 _He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, holding her in front of him. "Let's go, Caitlin." He hissed, steering her towards the stairway for the roof._

* * *

A scream echoed through the warehouse and up onto the roof, where it reached the ears of Tony, who recognised whose it was instantly.

"Kate," he whispered, looking over at Ellie, whose expression verified that she'd heard it too.

They were just about to head inside when about three more men emerged from the door to the roof, guns blazing.

"Tim," he gasped into his microphone, "We need some assistance up here!"

"On my way up Tony," came the reply.

* * *

" _Aria!" A pair of strong but feminine hands was shaking her as she slowly opened her eyes to her surroundings. "Aria, wake up!"_

 _She stared up into the face of Ziva David, who visibly relaxed upon seeing her eyes open; she'd been knocked unconscious due to the force of the bullet to the chest. She thanked the lords that she'd put on that bullet proof vest the day before. "What is it Ziva?"_

" _There's a sniper, over on the opposite warehouse from this," she pointed in the direction of the building in question. "There's no doubt that Ben's gonna try and get your mother killed in the way that she should've died years ago, so you need to go up there and stop that from happening!"_

" _Why me?" Aria asked frantically._

" _He'll know that I'm missing instantly- he's already got word that 5 agents came here, if I'm missing when he tries to put his plan into action, he'll just change it and kill her on the spot! He thinks that you're either dead or out cold already, so he won't question your absence."_

" _What if I miss?" She whispered, knowing now what her task was._

 _Ziva took her sig from her belt and pressed it into her hand. "You won't, now run."_

* * *

Tim had just finished gunning down the last of the men when there was a new arrival on the roof; one that wasn't Gibbs or Ziva.

It was Kate, being forced forward by Benjamin Rowe, who was twisting her arm behind her back painfully and pressing a gun to the side of her head.

Tony couldn't help but gasp as he took in her battered form. Her hair was matted, eyes dull. She had scratches up and down her arms and bruises on her face. She was walking with a limp, as if the very movement was effort to her.

"Drop your weapons," Ben Rowe growled, "Or I'll end this for Caitlin right now."

Without hesitation, Tony dropped his sig to the ground, Ellie and Tim following his action. Ziva and Gibbs rushed onto the roof just then, and immediately dropped their weapons too, raising their hands in the air just like their teammates. Kate's eyes washed over all of them and came to rest on Tony. The look that she gave him broke his heart- it was one of a person who knew that the end was near.

"Very good," Ben smirked.

* * *

 _Aria raced up what she hoped was the final flight of stairs, panting desperately. She didn't think that she'd ever run this far this fast in her life. She had to reach the roof and dispose of the other shooter before the signal to shoot was given. This was the point where it was all up to her; where her mother's life was in her hands._

 _She finally reached the top of the roof, and drew the sig from her pocket. In front of her, crouched in front of a small wall was a man, clearly poised and ready to shoot._

 _She pulled the trigger on the sig and watched as the gunman slumped to the floor, blood oozing out of the back of his head._

" _That was easy," she thought, running over and positioning herself in front of the sniper, which she recognised quickly as a Bravo 51- the same model as the one at the training ground. Adjusting her aim on her target, she waited. This was probably the most important shot that she'd ever take in her life. She wouldn't miss- not even by a millimetre._

* * *

"Well, this is interesting," Ben mused. "I was expecting a bit more resistance than that."

"I know for a fact that if we were to resist, you'd put a bullet through Agent Todd's head." Tony spat.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Such formality from you, Agent DiNozzo," Tony winced inwardly, remembering Taylor saying exactly the same thing. "I thought you of all people would put up a fight for the person that you claim to love."

Tony heard Kate intake a sharp breath, and locked his eyes with hers. "As much as I do love Agent Todd, I know for a fact that if I do put up a fight, you'll put a bullet through her head."

Ben chuckled, "If it makes you feel better, it wouldn't be me putting the bullet through her head, it would be one of my men over on that rooftop, stationed in exactly the same place that my late colleague, Haswari, was in over a decade ago."

At this, Ziva breathed in sharply, her fists clenching at the mention of her half brother. Ben turned his head to look at her. "Ziva," he smiled, "How did you get caught up with this rabble again? I thought you were way above that."

"Nobody is above NCIS, not even the director of Mossad," Ziva replied boldly, holding Ben's gaze with a steely glare.

"Whatever you say," Ben laughed cruelly. "This will be over in just a second, and Caitlin will be dead, just as she should've been years ago."

Ziva glanced over at Tony. She could already tell what he was thinking- he was going to jump in front of the sniper bullet to save Kate. He met her gaze, his eyes darkening. She shook her head at him, telling him not to do it. He looked momentarily confused, but understood, and nodded. Tony had always trusted her when they had worked together- why wouldn't he now?

"Have you got anything to say before your life swiftly ends, Caitlin?" Ben asked, moving her to the side of him slightly.

Kate looked at Tony again, her eyes filled with pain, believing this to be the end. "I love you," she murmured out of chapped lips, "and I'm sorry." She closed her eyes as Ben raised an arm, signalling to the sniper on the far away rooftop. The team watched the scene unfurling in front of their eyes helplessly.

There was a loud bang as the sniper took the shot and the bullet whizzed towards them at an unearthly speed.

"Katie!" Tony yelled, his voice raw, just as the bullet struck its target, and blood splattered across his forehead.

* * *

 **A/N: Is Kate alright? Did Aria hit her target? Come back tomorrow to find out!**


	29. Chapter 29: Aftermath

_Aria stumbled back from the sniper as the force of the shot rippled through the metal of the machine and up her arm and the sound of it nearly burst her eardrums. She gasped as the impact became too strong for her body to stand, her knees buckled and she collapsed onto the ground beneath her unstable feet._

 _Hearing someone yell desperately, her mind shot into action. "Mum," she whispered, crawling frantically to the place where she'd fired from and looked through the sniper lens to watch the aftermath of her shot._

 _Staring out across the alleyway down below, she surveyed the roof. A couple of members of the team had fallen to the floor, clutching their ears to protect them from the din that was the sniper firing. Only Ziva, Gibbs and Tony were still standing, though Tony was white as a sheet, blood spattered across his cheeks, eyes screwed shut; Gibbs looked shell-shocked, but Ziva was grinning from ear to ear, clearly relieved, looking directly at her._

 _As she stared at the rooftop even closer, she saw exactly what Ziva was grinning about: Benjamin Rowe was lying flat on his back, eyes wide open but lifeless, a single bullet wound piercing the centre of his forehead. A pool of blood was forming underneath him, staining his clothes, skin and hair._

 _Next to him was her mother. She had fallen to her knees, her arms wrapped around her own torso in shock. She was injured, but they weren't new injuries, just those that she recognised from back in the dark room. She was alive and moving, and that's all Aria cared about._

 _She let out a triumphant cheer that echoed across the many warehouses in the area: she'd done it. She'd hit the target in exactly the right place, and the people that she cared for were safe._

 _With a relieved smile, she packed up the sniper, tucked it under her arm, and exited the roof, heading off to join her family._

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Aria; it's a short one, but it gives you the answer to the cliffhanger from the last chapter. Since there is only one chapter left to upload, I will upload it on Wednesday (as it is the usual uploading time for this story).**

 **See you on Wednesday!**

 **Louise :)**


	30. Chapter 30: Family

The concrete of the rooftop cold against her scabbed skin, Kate's eyes slowly fluttered open. She let out a long breath, marvelling in the fact that she could still breathe, and that she was still alive at all: she thought it was the end the second that Ben had given the signal. Once she was certain that the danger was over; slowly but painfully, she braced her hands on the stone behind her and hoisted herself up shakily onto her feet. It took her a brief moment to steady herself as her legs were wobbly from collapsing to the ground so suddenly, but after that, she'd never felt so stable in her life.

Breathlessly, she took in her surroundings. Tim and the blonde agent were on the floor, hands covering their ears, eyes screwed shut. Gibbs was up, and staring in the direction of the opposite warehouse as if he could see the shooter from this far away. The Mossad agent, who Ben had called Ziva, was on the phone, probably to her agency. There was only one person who was looking directly at her, his eyes clouded over with relief.

"Tony," she said hoarsely, her voice cracking.

His lips moved to form her name, but they didn't have a chance to as before he could say a word, she'd rushed towards him and thrown her arms around him. For a moment he stood still, not sure what to do, but after a bit, his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her against him, burying his face in her shoulder. He held her close; trying to make up for all of the years that they'd been apart, so content that she was finally safe in his arms.

"Katie," he whispered- his voice extremely small, "You're alright."

"Of course I am," she pulled back slightly, staring into his eyes intently.

"Kate," a voice said. She turned around, one of her arms still around Tony to greet the voice. Gibbs, who'd turned away from staring into the distance, was standing in front of her, observing her after many years of absence. Though his hair was almost completely white, he still had the same stone cold expression, the same authoritive stance. He was still the same old Gibbs.

"Alright Gibbs?"

"Long time no see Kate," the old agent smiled, "You don't look any different."

"You neither boss," she grinned, giving him a bear hug before turning to the Mossad agent, who was now off the phone, and standing beside her former boss.

"Ziva David," she said, extending a hand, which Kate took and shook. "I've heard so much about you, we should go out and get to know each other at some point- I think we'd get on well."

Kate smiled at Ziva warmly. She had a feeling that they would get on well. Perhaps they'd be good friends. "That sounds great," she replied.

"Glad that you're home Kate," Tim greeted from behind her. Kate whirled around to face him and smiled. Tim had definitely matured a lot- no longer the gullible Probie that she'd known in the past.

"Me too, Tim," she gave him a hug, before turning to the completely unknown blonde lady.

"Ellie Bishop," she shook her hand, "You may not know me, but Abby's told me all about you. You sound great."

"Thanks Ellie." Kate stopped for a minute, thinking. "Do you mind if I borrow your phone quickly? Just to call Abby," she added quickly. Ellie nodded, handing over her cell phone without hesitation.

Kate dialled the number, her brain knowing every last number off by heart, and pressed the call button. Almost instantly, the phone was picked up. She could just imagine the forensic scientist waiting by the phone anxiously, waiting for someone to call her with good news.

"Ellie!" Abby's frantic voice travelled down the line loudly. "What's going on?!"

"Abs, it's me, Kate." There was a moment of complete silence before Abby's voice came back.

"Kate?"

"Yeah-I'm alive."

"Oh my god," Abby's voice became shaky, "You're alive, you're safe," Kate realised then that Abby had started to cry down the phone. "We need to have a girls night soon," Abby laughed through tears, "I'll be the first to say that it's long overdue."

Kate laughed, "I'll talk to you later Abby, we're heading back now anyway."

After saying goodbye to Abby, Kate walked back over to the group of agents, who were deep in conversation.

"Ziva," Tony asked, "You stopped me from jumping in front of the sniper bullet. How did you know that the shooter was going to go for Ben rather than Kate?" he intertwined Kate's fingers in his as she stood next to him. "Surely one of his own people wouldn't have gone against him in that last second, who was it?"

Ziva smirked, "Well, you won't believe this DiNozzo, but the shooter was…"

"Me!" A voice cut Ziva off, causing everyone to turn and face the stairway that led onto the rooftop.

There was a collective gasp as Aria Song emerged onto the roof, a Bravo 51 tucked under her arm, panting from racing from one warehouse to another. She was grinning from ear to ear, relief clear in her eyes. "Thanks to Ziva, I've discovered that I'm actually a natural on the sniper."

Upon seeing her parents hand in hand, Aria immediately ran over to them, throwing her arms around them both simultaneously. In turn, they hugged her close, a whole family together at last. "Mum… Dad," she whispered, happy to see them together.

"Team hug!" Tony yelled suddenly, beckoning to his family to join them.

There was a collective cheer as the whole team joined together in a huge group hug. Lots of congratulatory words and endearment terms were exchanged.

Well, the whole team, except Gibbs.

Gibbs stared at his team, that was more than just his team: this was his family. This was the family that he had created, the family that would continue his legacy as an NCIS agent. These were the people that he trusted with his life with, and the people that he would give his life to save. And for once, a new thought dawned on him; a thought that previously he would've laughed at, but now he was starting to welcome.

Perhaps it was time to retire after all.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey! This was the final proper chapter of Aria, and I hope that you liked it! It's a very fluffy ending to an extremely long story. I have written an epilogue, so that will be going up on Saturday or Sunday.**

 **I hope you've liked this fic,**

 **Louise :)**


	31. Epilogue: Welcome to NCIS

**6 years, 6 months later…**

I stare down at the government document sitting on the desk in front of me; pen in hand, fingers hovering above the signature box. To anyone else, this may look like an ordinary employment contract, but to me, this is my life. It's what I've been training for since the second I turned 21, what I've wanted to be for over 6 years.

The document shows my name, Aria DiNozzo; no middle name. I dropped the name Song as soon as my parents got married and moved in together: there was no point in keeping it when it was never a real name to begin with. I like having a name that I can embrace and be proud of- that I know the origin of, rather than one that was picked up to hide me.

The director stands on the other side of the desk, green eyes watching my every move. Fatherly pride sparkles in them brightly reaches into his draw and pulls out something, hiding it behind his back. I remember the first moment that I ever saw him, when that pride hadn't been there and he'd looked lonely and sad despite his cheerful expression. Now he's happily married, with great friends and a close family, and a big shiny badge that reads _Anthony DiNozzo, NCIS Director_. He still works as a field agent sometimes, helping out the team, which now run by Agent McGee. The head of team position was first of all offered to Agent Todd, but she declined it and recommended him for the job, saying he was more deserving of it than she would ever be.

I remember the shock on his face when Leon Vance came downstairs and said in front of everyone that he was stepping down from the Director's position, and was going to recommend him for the job. Everyone was so desperately happy for him, but he just stood there, shell-shocked, as if none of it was real.

Taking a deep breath, I lower the pen to the contract and scrawl my signature in the final box. This is my last set of paperwork and in the back of my mind, something eases at the thought of not having to do anymore until my first case. I pick up the form and hand it to the director, who grins at it as if it is a lottery ticket.

He reveals a gold badge and a sig from behind his back and hands them to me. I holster the sig at my belt and clip the badge onto my waistband. At this moment, I feel more accomplished than I ever have in my life, except maybe the time that I landed that shot with the sniper.

Then, my dad walks around his desk and pulls me into a hug, even though I'm one of his employees now as well as his daughter. I hug him back tightly, glad that many months of applying and training has paid off. He whispers something in my ear that almost makes me tear up:

"Welcome to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service- Special Agent DiNozzo."

 **THE END**


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